November 7, 2005

Chicken tests negative for H5N1 bird flu strain in Macedonia

Macedonian officials said Friday that tests on a chicken came back negative for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

"No bird flu case has been reported in Macedonia," the director of the Veterinarian Administration, Sloboden Cokrevski, said.

The test was carried out at a laboratory in Weybridge, England.

The sample was sent Oct 28 following an outbreak of Newcastle disease-a different, common illness in birds-in the southern Macedonian village of Mogila.

The bird tested in the UK had displayed atypical symptoms.

More than 10,000 chickens were slaughtered in Mogila two weeks ago.