July 5, 2007

France confirms H5N1 bird flu in dead swans
 

Three swans found dead in a pond in eastern France have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the Agriculture Ministry said Thursday (Jul 5).

Officials have set up a control zone of about one kilometre around the pond in Assenoncourt in the Moselle region to watch for more possible deaths of wild birds, the ministry said.

The ministry ordered domestic fowl protected from wild birds and banned pigeon racing competitions and some other activities involving birds.

Bird flu is believed to spread along bird migration routes, and the H5N1 strain has been found in poultry farms in three other European Union countries this year: Hungary, the UK and the Czech Republic, the European Commission has said.

France experienced a bird flu scare after an outbreak of the lethal disease in February 2006 in the eastern Ain region. It was quickly contained, with authorities slaughtering survivors among the 11,000 turkeys and quarantining farms. A vaccination campaign of fowl was launched.