August 28, 2007

Germany's bird flu outbreak could likely come from contaminated straw

Straw contaminated with the H5N1 strain of bird flu was the likely source of an outbreak of the disease at a poultry farm in southern Germany that resulted in 160,000 birds being slaughtered, an official said Monday (August 27).

Ottmar Fick, the chief veterinarian in the Erlangen district of northern Bavaria, said it remained unclear how the straw, which was stored on the farm, became infected, although wild birds were a possible source.

Two experts from a federal animal disease lab were at the site, he said.

The virus was detected in ducklings at the farm Friday, and the federal lab confirmed the presence of the lethal H5N1 strain on Saturday.

Authorities ordered the slaughter of all 160,000 birds on the farm as a precaution -a process Fick said was completed Sunday night. A three-kilometre (1.85-mile) exclusion zone is in place around the farm.

Several cases of the virus have surfaced among wild birds in Germany this year. Last month, it was detected in a domestic goose in the east of the country.

The H5N1 virus has killed more than 190 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

It is hard for humans to catch, but experts fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people, potentially sparking a global pandemic. To date, most human cases have been traced to contact with infected birds.