November 30, 2007

Source of bird flu outbreaks in Britain still unknown
 

The cause of two bird flu outbreaks that hit England this month remains unknown, Britain's environmental authority said.

Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it holds no sufficient evidence that the outbreaks were caused by the infected poultry or by wild birds.

However, neither possibility could be ruled out.

DEFRA said further surveillance, testing and epidemiological work on this outbreak is ongoing.

The discovery of bird flu in Britain rattled the poultry industry weeks before the Christmas holiday.

The H5N1 strain of the disease is difficult for people to catch. Experts believe most of the 206 people who have died of it worldwide since 2003 were probably infected through direct contact with sick birds.