Some 8,000 hens have been euthanised in a poultry farm in canton Thurgau in order to stop the spread of a virus. The animals were brought on Thursday morning to a container filled with carbon dioxide and were sedated before being killed. All 8,000 laying hens from the farm in Neukirch-Egnach were dead by midday, the cantonal authorities said. A virus had been suspected following sudden hen deaths. Laboratory tests confirmed the existence of Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT), which also infects chickens, pheasants, peafowl and turkeys. It poses no danger to humans. On Tuesday, a poultry farm in southern Switzerland was given a clean bill of health following a recent outbreak of the virulent Newcastle virus that resulted in thousands of chickens being put down.
