May 15, 2006

Romania to cull one million birds after bird flu outbreak

Almost one million domestic fowl are to be culled in Romania after H5N1 bird flu virus struck three locations in the centre of the country, Romanian Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said on Sunday (May 14).

The latest outbreak is the first discovery of bird flu in a farm in Romania. Authorities promise a swift culling of the farm's approximately 350,000 chicken.

Authorities also seized almost three tonnes of chicken that may be infected with bird flu in a supermarket.

The new cases of bird flu comes barely a month after Romainia announced that the H5N1 virus had been eradicated.

On Sunday, the H5N1 virus was found in Fagaras, in the centre of the country, as well as in a poultry farm in Codlea.

According to authorities, the farm in Codlea was responsible for spreading the virus, as it sold contaminated chickens to farmers in Fagaras and Hurezu.

Poultry movement has been banned in Romania and disinfection filters have been put in place in the affected regions, Flutur said.

Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu also said Tamiflu had been distributed in the affected regions to prevent human cases of bird flu.

Bird flu has struck 56 locations in Romania and over 420,000 birds have been culled since the virus was found in poultry on October 7, 2005.