June 25, 2007

Dead birds in Germany positive for bird flu strain

At least some of the cases of bird flu discovered this weekend near the southern city of Nuremberg involve a highly pathogenic variety of the H5N1 strain, Germany's Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection said Sunday (June 24).

All seven of the birds - five swans, one duck and one goose found dead on Friday and Saturday - had the H5N1 strain, and further tests were still ongoing to determine if they were infected with the highly pathogenic variety. It is the first bird flu discovered in Germany this year, and the first report of wild birds infected this year within the European Union.

The H5N1 strain has, however, been found in poultry farms in three other EU countries this year according to the European Commission: Hungary, the UK and the Czech Republic.

Thirteen EU nations were hit by bird flu last year - Austria, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Greece, the UK, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Hungary and France.

Bird flu is believed to spread along bird migration routes.

The H5N1 strain has decimated poultry stocks since 2003 and killed at least 191 people worldwide, most of them directly infected by sick birds in Asia. Experts fear, however, that the virus could mutate into a form easily transmitted between people.