May 11, 2006

Migratory birds return to Europe without bird flu

The flocks of migratory birds that winged their way south to Africa last autumn and then back over Europe in recent weeks did not carry the H5N1 bird flu virus or spread it during their annual journey, the International Herald Tribune reports Thursday, citing scientists.

International health officials had feared the disease was likely to spread to Africa during the winter migration and return to Europe with a vengeance during the reverse migration this spring.

That has not happened - a significant finding for Europe, because it is far easier to monitor a virus that exists domestically on farms but not in nature.

"It is quiet now in terms of cases, which is contrary to what many people had expected," said Ward Hagemeijer, a bird flu specialist with Wetlands International, an environmental group based in the Netherlands that studies migratory birds.

In thousands of samples collected in Africa this winter, the H5N1 flu virus was not detected in a single wild bird, officials and scientists said. In Europe, there have been only a handful of cases detected in wild birds since Apr 1, at the height of the northward migration.

Meanwhile, in Russia, tests of samples from the 64 domestic poultry in Siberia's Novosibirsk region, have shown the presence of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the federal agricultural products quality watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said.

The deaths occurred in the village of Reshety, where there are 35,000 domestic birds, many of whom have not been vaccinated.