August 7, 2006

Dead swan positive for H5N1 in eastern Germany

A dead swan at a zoo in eastern Germany has tested positive for the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu, an official said Friday (Aug 4). This is the first case reported in the country in nearly three months.

The bird was found dead in a pond at the Dresden zoo on Monday, said Juergen Vogels, a spokesman for the Health Ministry in the eastern state of Saxony. A federal lab confirmed on Thursday that the swan had H5N1, the first case it has found since May 12.

In the spring, when the virus surfaced in countries across Europe, the strain was identified in some 200 wild birds in Germany, many of them on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen. Three dead cats and a stone marten also were found to have the virus.

In April, Germany confirmed its first H5N1 case in domestic fowl at a farm in Saxony. Vogels said the young swan found dead this week had hatched and grown up at the Dresden zoo.