January 25, 2006

Romania's confined fowls help prevent bird flu spread

Extremely low temperatures are helping to fight the spread of bird flu in Romania as people are forced to keep their fowls confined, authorities said Tuesday.

Temperatures have plunged across the country in recent days to as low as -30 deg Celsius, forcing villagers to keep their fowl confined and reducing the danger of fowl mixing with infected birds on ponds and lakes, said Gabriel Predoi, who heads the National Agency for Animal Health.

In recent months, authorities have complained that a warm winter and lack of snow has made migratory birds stay longer in Romania.

An H5-subtype of bird flu was detected in 25 villages in Romania in October, with authorities quarantining the areas for 21 days. Authorities have confirmed the deadly H5N1 virus in most of those locations, with tests still underway in the UK expected to confirm the same strain of the virus for all localities where the H5 virus was detected.

"We have ended quarantine measures in 16 of the 25 villages," Predoi told state news agency Rompres. No human cases have been detected in Romania.