November 28, 2005

Romania culls fowls after new bird flu discovery

Authorities began on Sunday to cull thousands of domestic birds in an eastern Romanian village where a turkey has tested positive for the H5 subtype of bird flu.

The turkey belonged to the mayor of Scarlatesti village, and authorities suspect it was infected after coming in contact with migratory birds travelling to and from the Danube Delta.

Further tests to be carried out in the UK will establish whether the turkey was infected with the deadly H5N1 strain, which has devastated poultry stocks and killed at least 68 people in parts of Asia since 2003, said Ion Predoi, head of the National Agency for Animal Health.

Authorities have quarantined the village after the test on the turkey came back positive Saturday night and have began killing all 15,000 domestic birds in the village, he added.

"We have eight teams led by vets culling the birds and we hope to finish by tomorrow (Monday) night," Predoi said. The area will then be disinfected and restrictions will be lifted only if no other infections are detected within 21 days, he said.

Romania has already confirmed the H5N1 strain of bird flu in three villages in the Danube Delta. The virus was also confirmed in a dead heron in an uninhabited area near the border with Moldova, about 50 kilometres north from Scarlatesti.

In Europe, birds have tested positive for H5N1 in Romania, Russia, Croatia and Turkey, but the virus has not been detected in humans on the continent.