February 27, 2006

Switzerland finds first animal case of bird flu
 

Tests in a Swiss laboratory have confirmed a first animal case of bird flu in Switzerland, a government spokesman said Sunday.

Oswald Sigg, spokesman for Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council, said the case appeared in the region of Geneva and was tested in a Zurich laboratory. He declined to say whether it was a wild or domestic bird or another type of animal infected or provide any further details.

Sigg also declined to say whether it was the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu that has appeared in neighbouring France and Germany. But he told a Swiss radio interviewer later that the infected bird was a merganser, a large diving duck.

Switzerland has been on the lookout for a bird flu outbreak after the virus was reported in neighbouring countries like Italy and Austria. Returning migratory birds are suspected of being H5N1 carriers, as Switzerland lies en route from Africa and other southern areas.

The country had also ordered this month all poultry be kept indoors for an indefinite period of time to lessen infection risks.