Suriname denies UK bird flu parrot infected there

By Ank Kuipers

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (Reuters) – A parrot from Suriname
that was infected with bird flu and died in quarantine in
Britain, did not contract the disease in the South American
country, a Suriname government official said on Saturday.

British officials on Friday reported traces of the highly
pathogenic H5 avian flu virus were found in the parrot imported
from Suriname, which had been held with other birds from
Taiwan.

But the government of Suriname, a former Dutch colony on
South America’s shoulder which exports thousands of birds each
year, said it has increased tests to ensure sick animals are
not sent abroad.

“Because many countries have sharpened their conditions for
the import of wildlife, we are now not only performing the
routine checks, but we also make a special inspection for bird
flu,” Edmund Rozenblad, head of veterinary inspection for the
Ministry of Agriculture, told Reuters.

“I am very certain the parrot was not infected in
Suriname,” he added.

The British government is working to determine if the virus
which killed the parrot was the H5N1 strain, which has killed
more than 60 people in four Asian countries since breaking out
in late 2003 in South Korea.

It has now reached as far west as European Russia, Turkey
and Romania, tracking the paths of migratory birds.

The World Health Organization has said the deadly H5N1
strain is endemic in poultry in China and across much of Asia,
and that it may be only a matter of time before it mutates to
transfer between humans.

Rozenblad said other birds shipped from Suriname with the
infected parrot were healthy.

“If any bird would have been infected, all other birds, or
at least many of them, would have become ill. I have been
informed that all birds of this shipment destined for the
Netherlands have been released from quarantine and are now for
sale,” Rozenblad said, adding other birds in the shipment were
sent to Japan.

Officials from neighboring Guyana said they were monitoring
for any signs of the bird flu but that no trace has been found
so far.

Germany said it would ask the European Union next week to
ban all wild bird imports.

(Additional reporting by Sharief Khan in Georgetown)