Bird Flu - Avian Influenza - news - information

Friday, July 06, 2007

Bird flu spreads to German poultry (new case domestic poultry)

The H5N1 bird flu virus has spread to domestic poultry in Germany after killing dozens of wild birds in the past fortnight, the national veterinary laboratory said on Friday.

The virus struck down a goose on a small holding in a forest near Wickersdorf in the eastern state of Thueringen where the owner kept four other geese and five ducks, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute said.

All the birds have been slaughtered.

It is the first time this year that the highly pathogenic strain of avian flu, which can also kill humans, was found among domestic birds in Germany.

It has infected wild birds in Thueringen and three other German states since late June.

The Friedrich Loeffler Institute has suggested that the disease could have jumped the border from the neighbouring Czech Republic where it has infected poultry on large turkey and chicken farms.

Bird flu story source: AFP

UK bans pigeon racing from France after bird flu

LONDON (Reuters) - International pigeon racing from continental Europe to Britain has been banned after H5N1 was discovered in wild birds in France, the Environment Agency said.

Domestic racing will be allowed to continue, Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds said.

But racing from continental mainland Europe, including the Channel Islands, has been banned as a precautionary measure.

Reynolds said: “Given the current period of uncertainty about avian influenza in Europe and the possibility that further spread may occur, a precautionary approach is being taken based on ornithological and veterinary advice.”

Bird flu story source: Reuters

Thursday, July 05, 2007

France says H5N1 bird flu virus confirmed in swans

PARIS (Reuters) - Tests have confirmed that three swans found dead in eastern France were killed by the H5N1 bird flu virus, the French agriculture ministry said on Thursday, France’s first cases of the disease in over a year.

“Michel Barnier, minister of agriculture and fishing, is putting in place the risk prevention measures corresponding to the shift from the ‘moderate’ level to the ‘high’ level,” the ministry said in a statement.

The “high” level means that in mainland France birds and poultry will have to be either locked up or protected by nets to avoid all contact with wild birds, a ministry official said. The gathering of birds and pigeon contests will be forbidden.

In 98 “humid zones” in France, or around 15 percent of the country, there will be special veterinary checks at poultry farms.

French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said on French television that the country was not threatened by a flu pandemic at this stage but that the government would be remain on alert.

“We have to be extremely vigilant because the large flu epidemic that appeared after the first world war, also known as Spanish flu, was of avian origin,” she said on LCI.

A French poultry breeders group said in a statement on Thursday that the sanitary practices they put in place gave them sufficient tools to thwart the spread of the disease.

Bird flu story source: Reuters Alertnet

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Swans checked in France for deadly bird flu virus

Three swans found dead in northeast France are being analyzed to see if they carried the H5N1 strain of bird flu which can be fatal to humans, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday.

“First analysis have established a suspicion of bird flu. More tests are under way to see ... if this is an infection with the H5N1 strain,” the ministry said.

Results will be known Thursday, and in the meantime measures have been taken to seal off the lake in the Moselle department where the birds were found.

In accordance with EU norms, a one kilometer (0.6 mile) exclusion zone has been established around the Assenoncourt lake, as well as a wider 15 kilometer(9.3 mile) “observation” zone.

Bird flu story source: AFP

Germany finds bird flu cases in wild birds - (Additional cases)

HAMBURG, July 4 (Reuters) - More wild birds have tested positive in Germany for the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu, German authorities said on Wednesday.

Two wild birds tested positive for H5N1 in the eastern state of Thueringen. About 100 birds of various types were found dead in the state and about 40 were being tested for bird flu, Germany’s Friedrich-Loeffler national animal diseases institute said.

Last week, Germany discovered H5N1 in Leipzig in the eastern state of Saxony and in the southern city of Nuremberg in cases involving a total of nine wild birds.

The source of the outbreaks, the first in Germany in 2007, was unclear.

French authorities also said on Tuesday they were investigating possible cases of bird flu in wild birds.
Bird flu story source: Reuters