Finland says mild strain of bird flu in dead gulls

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finnish officials said on Wednesday a
low-pathogenic strain of bird flu virus had been found in three
seagulls discovered dead, but that the birds had died of
starvation, not the disease itself.

Tests were being carried out to determine the exact strain
of the virus the birds carried, but the National Veterinary and
Food Research Institute (EELA) ruled out the pathogenic version
that has killed people in Asia.

“The virus is not the H5 or H7 strain to which the highly
pathogenic strains generally belong,” the institute said in a
statement.

Some 200 dead seagulls had been collected by Monday and
EELA had run preliminary tests on about 20 of them.

The birds were found to have died of starvation, which had
also weakened their immune systems and made them vulnerable to
other infections.

Despite finding signs of the bird flu virus, the gulls
themselves had not shown any signs of having suffered symptoms
of the illness, an EELA spokeswoman said.

Final results of the tests are expected next week.