February 13, 2006

Romania confirms bird flu virus in poultry

Romanian authorities confirmed an H5 subtype of the bird flu virus in poultry in a village near the border with Bulgaria, the Agriculture Ministry said Friday, Feb 10.

The virus was detected Tuesday in preliminary tests on three chickens from a household farm in Cetate, near the Danube River, prompting authorities to cull 1,200 domestic birds in the village and quarantine the area.

Local authorities were searching for a group of Gypsies, or Roma, who are believed to have eaten dead chickens after buying them from a farmer before bird flu was detected in the area, said Ion Groza, a local government official.

The south-west province is vulnerable because the weather there is warmer, allowing migratory birds to stay, specialists have said.

Bird flu has been found in birds in 26 villages since October, with H5N1 confirmed in most of those locations.

Across the Danube in Bulgaria, a swan tested positive last week for an H5 subtype of bird flu. Further tests on the swan were being carried out in the UK.