British parrot has deadly H5N1 bird flu strain

LONDON (Reuters) – A parrot that died in quarantine in
Britain has been found to have the lethal H5N1 strain of bird
flu, the agriculture ministry said on Sunday.

A ministry spokeswoman confirmed that scientists had found
“the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus” in the parrot.

“The closest match is to a strain found in ducks in China
earlier this year,” she said.

The parrot, imported from Suriname, South America, was part
of a mixed consignment of 148 birds that arrived on September
16, the ministry said. They were held with another consignment
of 216 birds from Taiwan.

All the birds were culled while in quarantine.

The H5N1 strain has killed more than 60 people in four
Asian countries since breaking out in late 2003 in South Korea.

It has also reached European Russia, Turkey and Romania,
tracking the paths of migratory birds.

H5N1 has triggered widespread concern because it can
transfer to humans in some cases, although only if they have
had prolonged and close contact with infected birds, and some
experts fear it could mutate to transfer between humans.

Hugh Pennington, a leading microbiologist, said when the
infected parrot was discovered that bird flu posed no risk to
human health in Britain for now and the case should be simple
to tackle as the parrot had been in quarantine.