September 17, 2007

Germany culls more ducks as bird flu fears spread

Another 26,000 ducks are to be destroyed in Germany's battle to stop the spread of H5N1 bird flu through poultry farms in Bavaria state, officials said Friday.

Authorities have culled 205,000 ducks since bird flu was discovered in two poultry farms in the state on Sep 7.

The entire 26,000-bird stock of the farm near the small town of Simbach would be slaughtered after an unspecified H5-type virus was found among them.

The precautionary kill was foreshadowed earlier this week. Affected farms had traded live ducks among each another.

Since the end of August, more than 400,000 birds have been destroyed at poultry farms in the areas with H5N1 virus found in tissues of numerous birds.

The killings are driven by the fear that the highly infectious virus could mutate and become a major threat to humans.