October 27, 2005

Croatia confirmed hit by H5N1 bird flu

Samples of six swans found in the Croatian nature park earlier tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus, following test results from the EU laboratory in Britain.

Croatia's government and the European Commission have confirmed the news.

The European Commission had already placed a precautionary ban on imports of live poultry, wild birds and feathers from Croatia.

The country's government has disinfected and quarantined the region around the affected sites and all domestic poultry there were destroyed.

Romania, Turkey and Russia had already confirmed the H5N1 strain in birds within their borders.

About 1,500 migratory swans arrived in eastern Croatia recently, as the country was a major migratory route for birds.