Spain will be particularly exposed to possible cases of bird flu in migrating birds returning from Africa in the coming weeks, but there are no confirmed cases yet, the Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday.

Health and veterinary officials met on Thursday to decide whether to take additional measures to protect domestic birds from catching bird flu and ruled that existing guidelines were largely adequate.

They decided to allow the country’s regional governments more leeway in deciding which areas were high risk and how far to extend the emergency area if and when a case of the deadly H5N1 virus is found.

“Our rules are dynamic and can change…particularly in the face of the migratory birds that we expect to arrive from Africa in a few weeks time,” Spain’s Director General of Livestock Carlos Escribano told a news conference.

“There’s a big risk for Spain because it’s the entry point (to Europe) for birds in spring,” Chairman of Spain’s Veterinary College Juan Jose Badiola said in a television interview.

With cases in Italy and other European countries experts say it is only a matter of time before Spain also confirms it has found an infected bird.

It has already enforced rules to cover poultry being bred close to all the country’s 25 designated wetlands, to prevent contact between migrating birds and domestic fowl.

The Madrid region has ordered all poultry farms to enclose their birds and others may follow suit.

Badiola said he was concerned about the thousands of smallholders in villages who keep chickens unregistered in their backyards.

“An order to enclose birds cannot be carried out at short notice,” he said.

“Then there are the hunting grounds, particularly for partridge, which are practically farms and which have feeding and watering places that need protecting from migratory birds,” Badiola said in an interview with El Pais newspaper.

The Spanish poultry producers association Propollo said chicken meat sales had dropped 7 percent in the last two weeks, since cases of bird flu had turned up in nearby countries, but prices were not affected.

The ministry’s Escribano said on Thursday the fall in sales was around 5 percent.

Alfredo Fernando, who runs a poultry stall in the central Madrid market of La Paz, said his business had suffered.

“Sales have fallen, the news is bad,” he said. “I know there are controls, but there are people who are scared.”