German stone martin tests positive for avian influenza ( bird flu )
German authorities from The Friedrich-Loeffler Institute, reported Thursday that a “Stone Martin”, a weasel like animal, had been found infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu, indicating that the virus had spread to another species of mammal.
The animal had been found on the island of Ruegen in north Germany on March 2.The animal, sick and apparently dying, was found near the Wittow Ferry area of the island, where cats and birds have been found with the bird flu virus.
It was then killed by a government veterinarian, the institute said in a statement.
“The presence of an H5N1 infection in a second mammalian species is not surprising,” Till Backhaus, the regional minister for agriculture, said in a statement.
“Cats and martens have a comparable prey spectrum.”
It is believed at this point that both the cats infected earlier, and the Stone Martin, were infected by the H5N1 bird flu by eating infected prey.