Bird Flu Virus Kills 15 Swans in France

PARIS – The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has killed 15 wild swans in southeastern France, agriculture officials said Sunday, raising fears the lethal strain could spread in the European Union’s leading producer of poultry.

The news of the dead swans came a day after French authorities confirmed that a nearby turkey farm of more than 11,000 birds had been contaminated – the European Union’s first outbreak of deadly bird flu in commercial poultry.

The dead swans were found around the numerous ponds that dot the southeast area.

Switzerland, meanwhile, reported Sunday that an H5 subtype of bird flu has been found in a dead duck in Geneva, and tests were pending to determine if it was the H5N1 strain, which hasn’t yet been reported in the country.

The lethal H5N1 bird flu strain has spread from Asia to at least 10 European countries and Africa, and scientists fear it could mutate into a form that is easily transmitted between humans, sparking a pandemic.

The disease has killed more than 90 people, mostly in Southeast Asia, according to the World Health Organization. No human cases have been reported anywhere in Europe.

The dead duck in Switzerland was found Wednesday between two boats at a Lake Geneva pier, said Gottlieb Dandliker, a fauna inspector.

Swiss authorities said they were erecting a protective zone around the area where the duck was found.

Hans Wyss, director of the Switzerland’s veterinary office, said officials have been prepared for the possibility of bird flu reaching Geneva after Germany and France both reported their first cases of the disease in wild fowl earlier this month.

In India, thousands of workers in the poultry industry have lost their jobs amid plunging demand for chicken after the country reported its first case of bird flu last week, an official said Sunday.

India’s poultry industry has reported losses totaling about $1.1 billion since bird flu was detected last week, The Hindu Business Line newspaper reported.

In the northern Uttar Pradesh state, among India’s largest poultry producers, more than 60 percent of the state’s 2.5 million poultry workers have lost their jobs, said Mukesh Singh, a poultry company executive.

Although experts say bird flu cannot be contracted from eating properly cooked food, millions of people in India have stopped eating chicken and eggs because of fears of the disease, threatening to derail India’s fast-growing $13.6 billion poultry industry.