Lab Test Confirms Germany’s Dead Geese Not Bird Flu Victims

Lab test confirms Germany’s dead geese not bird flu victims

BERLIN, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) — A German laboratory test result on Wednesday found the dead 22 dead geese are not bird flu victims.

The dead birds were found on Monday on a pond 100 kilometers west of the German city Frankfurt and reports on Tuesday said they were positive with bird flu, but were killed by rat poison.

Stefan Bent, head of the state animal inspection office, said rat poison was found in the stomachs of 12 of the birds.

None of them had been infected with Type A influenza, the disease which has swept Asia and spread to some European countries. In Asia, over 60 people died from the disease.

Twenty scientists were assigned to find reasons for the death. Signs was set up at the pond warning people there was “mortal danger” from wading in the water after the geese were found.

Germany is free of bird flu. The H5N1 strain of avian influenza virus has been found in Turkey, Romania and Russia.

The only poultry infection with H5N1 in western Europe has been at a British quarantine station.

Avian influenza, or “bird flu”, is a contagious disease of animals caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs. The viruses are highly species-specific, but have, on rare occasions, crossed the species barrier to infect humans.

Recent events make it likely that some migratory birds are now directly spreading the H5N1 virus in its highly pathogenic form.

Further spread to new areas is expected, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The widespread persistence of H5N1 in poultry populations poses two main risks for human health:

— the risk of direct infection when the virus passes from poultry to humans, resulting in very severe disease

— if given enough opportunities, the virus will change into a form that is highly infectious for humans and spreads easily from person to person.