April 10, 2006

Austria reports H5N1 bird flu in wild fowls

Austrian health authorities said Friday (Apr 7) that preliminary tests have confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in 18 more wild birds that were found dead in Vienna.

H5N1 was detected in Austrian laboratory tests on the bodies of 15 swans, a goose, a duck and a heron, the Agency for Health and Nutritional Security said.

All 18 carcasses were found between Mar 28 and Apr 4 near the Old Danube lake, a waterway off the main channel of the Danube River in central Vienna that is popular with boaters and swimmers, veterinary officials said. Further tests will be carried out by a European Union laboratory in the UK, they added.

The latest cases bring to 28 the number of suspected H5N1 infections in wild birds in the Austrian capital, authorities said.

Officials have closed the Old Danube water park as a precaution because the dead birds were found within a few meters of each other.