March 20, 2006

EU confirms another H5N1 case in Sweden

The European Commission Friday (March 17) confirmed that Swedish authorities have reported another case of the H5N1 bird flu on a game farm near Oskarshamn, Sweden, two weeks after H5N1 was discovered in wild birds.

The 500 mallard and 150 pheasants on the farm are being destroyed immediately, the Commission said.

"No birds have been sent for slaughter or dispatched from the infected farm in the past weeks," the Commission said. "And the Swedish veterinary authorities appear to have the situation under full control."

The H5N1 bird flu strain has killed or forced the slaughter of tens of millions of chickens and ducks across Asia since 2003, and has recently spread to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.