April 6, 2006

Germany starts culling in farm affected by H5N1 bird flu

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday (Apr 5) Germany's first case of H5N1 bird flu in domestic fowl was a serious situation which raised many questions.

The outbreak was on a poultry farm east of Leipzig, the Saxony state Social Affairs Ministry said Wednesday.

The cull of the farm's entire flock of 10,000 geese, turkeys and chickens had already begun after some 20 birds were found dead earlier this week from what preliminary tests showed to be the H5 subtype of the virus.

"It is a serious situation and we must now see, above all, if we can find out more about the path of infection, because Saxony was not known until now as a state in which bird flu had occurred in migratory birds, and that raises a lot of questions," Merkel said.

The H5N1 strain previously was confirmed in some 200 wild birds in many parts of Germany, predominantly the northern region near the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen. Three dead cats and a stone marten were also found to have the disease, but it was the first time a case has been confirmed in domestic fowl.

The poultry farm in Wermsdorf is Saxony's largest.