Update Monday 29 Dec 2025 at 13:00 hours :
The Generalitat de Catalunya holds a remote meeting with the poultry sector to provide information on the avian influenza outbreak in the comarca of l’Urgell
The Government of Catalonia met on Friday the 26th — a public holiday throughout the region — with representatives of the poultry sector to update them on the avian influenza outbreak detected in the province of Lleida and the measures being implemented to contain it. The Ministry of Agriculture has yet to publish any official statement.
Key details:
- Origin of the outbreak: A positive case was confirmed at a poultry holding in l’Urgell on 24 December 2025.
- Actions by the Govern: Since then, biosecurity protocols have been applied and close coordination with the poultry sector has been maintained; the sector has demonstrated professionalism and awareness of the importance of biosecurity in preventing the spread of the virus.
- Meetings with local authorities: The Government has already met with the mayors of the municipalities within the 3 km radius to keep them informed, address queries, and coordinate actions.
Control measures:
- All poultry holdings and backyard flocks within the 3 km radius around the outbreak source have been sampled and tested. Results are negative, indicating that the farms are in good biosecurity condition.
- Over this weekend (27 and 28 December), samples have been taken and holdings located within the 3 to 10 km radius have been analysed.
- The culling of the birds at the affected holding has already begun.
Conclusion: The situation is evolving favourably, with no new cases detected at the farms that have been tested.
Containment and surveillance in Lleida: Avian influenza outbreak detected at a holding of 230,000 birds
Lleida, 24 Dec 2025, 21:00 hours. The Generalitat de Catalunya activated this Wednesday, 24 December 2025, a health alert after confirming a positive case of avian influenza at a poultry farm located in the province of Lleida. The outbreak will require authorities to order the culling of all birds on the holding and to impose strict isolation measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Spain had gone more than 60 days without any outbreak, as following the last one on 20 October involving broilers, no further cases had been recorded on poultry farms.
According to the Lleida newspaper SEGRE, the affected birds number 230,000, all commercial laying hens at a single holding in the town of Bellpuig, comarca of l’Urgell.
Regarding the Central Administration, on the afternoon of 29 Dec. 2025 they updated the official RASVE list of Latest registered notifications of notifiable animal diseases in Spain, meaning this latest outbreak has now been officially confirmed by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Immediate measures and sanitary cordon
At today’s official press conference on Wednesday 24 December at midday, the Conseller of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Òscar Ordeig, stressed that this disease is “notifiable” and that the existing protocols must be applied to the letter as required. In response, a confinement order has already been established for all poultry holdings within a 10-kilometre radius of the initial outbreak source.
We were struck by the fact that the press conference given by Conseller of Agriculture Oscar Ordeig was not held alone, but jointly with the Secretary of Public Health of the Generalitat, Esteve Fernández.
Within this perimeter, specific surveillance zones have been defined:
- 0 to 3 kilometre radius: Enhanced surveillance zone where veterinary teams are already carrying out comprehensive testing and controls.
- 3 to 10 kilometre radius: Zone where movement restrictions are somewhat less stringent, but equally subject to official control.
One positive factor for containment is that there are no other poultry holdings within a one-kilometre radius of the affected farm, which significantly reduces the risk of direct transmission through proximity. Furthermore, the Generalitat has confirmed that no animal movements took place from the infected holding in the hours prior to detection.
Food safety and public health: monitoring will be carried out for farm workers and external personnel involved in the culling operation.
The authorities have called for calm, reiterating that the consumption of poultry meat and eggs is entirely safe. The avian influenza virus is not transmitted to humans through the consumption of these foods.
As regards the risk to human health, this is considered “extremely exceptional” and generally limited to individuals who have direct and close contact with infected birds in an occupational setting. Nevertheless, the Department of Health has activated surveillance protocols for farm workers, coordinated by the Hospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova de Lleida. These protocols include “passive surveillance of respiratory symptoms” and a recommendation to receive seasonal influenza vaccination to generate cross-immunity.
The 15th outbreak of 2025 and accidental contact with wild birds as the primary hypothesis
This case in Lleida adds to the 14 outbreaks (see list below) of Avian Influenza that have occurred in Spain in 2025. The Catalan poultry sector had already been on alert since 17 November, when biosecurity measures were heightened in response to the epidemiological risk in Europe, and a mandatory confinement order was issued for all farmed poultry across Spain, a prohibition that has remained in force ever since.
The leading hypothesis regarding the origin of the infection points to wild birds. It is believed that climate change and shifts in migratory routes may have facilitated accidental contact between infected wild birds and poultry. Historically, Catalonia has faced similar situations, with an outbreak at a turkey farm in Arbeca in 2023, but neither in 2024 nor in 2025 had any further case been recorded on poultry farms since then, even though wild bird mortality counts from avian influenza have never ceased.
Context: an Autumn with an unprecedented presence of Avian Influenza in wild birds across Europe.
Also worth highlighting, as we reported on 17 December in NeXusAvicultura in the article “Autumn 2025: the largest H5N1 wave in wild birds in Europe“, this is the year with the highest number of cases ever recorded in wild birds in Europe since records began.
Specifically, between 6 September and 28 November 2025, Europe recorded 2,896 detections of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in birds: 368 outbreaks in poultry, 74 in captive birds, and 2,454 in wild birds, distributed across 29 countries. This figure represents an unprecedented increase for this time of year, with the number of detections in wildlife six times higher than in 2024, twelve times higher than in 2023, and well above the figures recorded in the autumns of 2021 and 2022.
Economic impact and 30-day outlook
Unlike the African Swine Fever (ASF) crisis also affecting the region, the export impact of this outbreak is expected to be smaller due to the relative scale of the poultry sector compared with the pig sector. Even so, Catalonia has several thousand poultry holdings producing millions of dozens of eggs and thousands of tonnes of meat annually. If the cleaning operations and perimeter control prove effective, Conseller Ordeig has estimated that restrictions could be lifted within 30 days and the outbreak declared eradicated.
What are the key figures for the poultry sector in Catalonia that illustrate its significance?
According to figures from the FAC (Federació Avícola de Catalunya), the poultry sector accounts for 13.6% of Catalonia’s total agricultural output and ranks second in importance within livestock meat production, behind only the pig sector. In 2023, poultry meat production reached 357,000 tonnes, up 0.3% on 2022. Broilers account for 70.5% of that production and turkeys for 17.8%.
Poultry meat production in Catalonia by province
| Province | Total carcass weight (thousand tonnes) | % |
|---|---|---|
| Catalonia | 357,063 | 100% |
| Barcelona | 105,319 | 29.5% |
| Girona | 21,911 | 6.1% |
| Lleida | 122,521 | 34.3% |
| Tarragona | 107,310 | 30.1% |
Within the broiler sector in Spain, Catalonia is the leading producer in terms of head of poultry, with 24% of the national total, and ranks second by volume, with 21%, with Andalusia being the top producer.
- Regarding eggs, Catalonia, with a total flock of 4 million laying hens, produced 99.2 million dozens in 2023, down 3.4% compared with 2022 but up 2.3% on 2021. Some 6.2% of eggs produced in 2023 came from free-range hens and 3.3% from organic production systems. These two systems have shown the greatest variation over the past year; specifically, free-range egg production increased by 64%, while organic production declined by 20% compared with the previous year.
Source:
-. Generalitat de Catalunya: “El Govern activa el protocol sanitari per un cas positiu de grip aviària a Lleida” (24 Dec 2025 at 14:45 h)
For further information on Avian Influenza:
-. News on Vaccination of poultry farmers and personnel in contact with production birds to reduce zoonosis risks.
-. News on Vaccination of production birds to prevent AI outbreaks
-. Avian Influenza on NeXusAvicultura
Tracking of Avian Influenza cases on poultry farms in Spain in 2025:
-. 1st outbreak of 2025 (18 July, Extremadura): Alert following an Avian Influenza outbreak at a 7,000-turkey farm in Extremadura
-. 2nd outbreak (28 July, Toledo): Second AI outbreak detected, this time at a breeder flock in Toledo
-. 3rd outbreak (1 Sept., Huelva): The H5N1 spectre returns to Andalusia: 8,500 turkeys culled due to avian influenza in Huelva.
-. 4th outbreak (8 Sept., Guadalajara): Spain records its fourth AI outbreak of 2025, this time at a breeder farm in Guadalajara
-. 5th outbreak (9 Sept., Huelva): H5N1 positive confirmed at the 8,400-bird poultry farm in Valverde del Camino, Huelva, Andalusia
-. 6th outbreak (19 Sept., Valladolid): H5N1 avian influenza detected at a 760,000-hen laying farm in Valladolid
-. 7th, 8th and 9th outbreaks (1 Oct., Valladolid and Madrid): 552,000 laying hens affected by three new AI outbreaks in Madrid and Valladolid
-. 10th outbreak (6 Oct., Valladolid): Tenth Avian Influenza outbreak detected in Spain. More than 800,000 laying hens to be culled.
-. 11th outbreak (13 Oct., Valladolid): Eleventh Avian Influenza outbreak detected in Spain at a 66,000-hen laying farm in Valladolid.
-. 12th outbreak (15 Oct., Valladolid): 315,000 additional laying hens affected in the latest outbreak
-. 13th outbreak (16 Oct., Toledo): 112,000 laying hens in Yeles, Toledo
-. 14th outbreak (20 Oct., Valladolid): 54,000 broilers in Valladolid (from 20 Oct. to 24 Dec. no cases were recorded on poultry farms in Spain).
-. 15th outbreak (24 Dec., Lleida): Farm of 230,000 laying hens in Lleida hit by Avian Influenza on Christmas Eve
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