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Bird Flu Hits Germany, Europe Tries to Stop Spread

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 February 2006, 08:35 CST

By Volker Warkentin

BERLIN -- Germany said on Wednesday further tests had confirmed H5N1 bird flu in two swans, prompting other European countries to step up efforts to prevent the virus infecting domestic livestock.

Germany became the fourth European Union country to detect the highly pathogenic strain of avian flu, saying additional tests on the swans had confirmed its presence, first shown by preliminary tests on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately it has been confirmed that the swans were infected with H5N1 from Asia," Reinhard Kurth, head of the Robert Koch Institute, told German television. "We have no doubts whatsoever any more."

The virus was first found to have reached the European Union at the weekend, when Italy and Greece said they had identified it in wild swans. They were followed by Austria which announced confirmed cases on Tuesday.

The spread through Europe of H5N1, which originated in Asia and can infect humans, has forced governments to order farmers to lock up their chickens to stop them catching the virus from wild birds. It is highly contagious among poultry.

Transmission of H5N1 to domestic flocks could be devastating for the EU's 20 billion euro ($24 billion) poultry and egg industry. The Netherlands had an outbreak of a different strain of bird flu in 2003 that led to the culling of 30 million birds, more than a third of the flock.

Germany brought forward a ban on keeping poultry out of doors to February 17, while Sweden ordered farmers to keep chickens and turkeys indoors and the Netherlands was considering ordering poultry indoors earlier than the planned date of February 20.

"We must stress the message that bird flu has been found in wild birds only and not in farm animals," said Thomas Janning, a spokesman for German poultry industry association ZDG.

The virus could spread further into Europe in spring when migrating birds return after wintering in Africa, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday.

RISK TO HUMANS

At present, humans can only contract bird flu through close contact with an infected bird, but experts fear H5N1 may mutate into a form that can spread between people and cause a pandemic that could kill millions.

Highly pathogenic H5N1 has killed at least 91 people in Asia and the Middle East, according to the World Health Organization.

There have been no human infections in Africa or Europe so far, though tests have been carried out on several people who it was thought might have been infected.

Testing for the virus in wild birds continued across Europe, with Romania -- which has already confirmed cases of H5N1 -- saying it had found suspected new cases, though the strain was unknown.

Neighbouring Hungary said it was testing 11 dead swans for H5N1, the national news agency MTI said. If positive, they would be the first cases in the central European country.

Poland said it was checking samples from three dead swans. Both its eastern neighbor Ukraine and Germany to its west already have cases of H5N1.

Source: REUTERS

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