Sweden confirms first cases of H5N1 bird flu

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish authorities said on Wednesday
that tests had confirmed that two wild ducks found on its east
coast carried the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Preliminary tests late last month showed that two wild
ducks found near the Baltic port city of Oskarshamn carried the
aggressive H5 virus, but more tests were needed to ascertain
that they were cases of the deadly H5N1 strain.

“The laboratory in Weybridge has now confirmed that it is
an H5N1 virus, just as we thought,” the National Veterinary
Institute said in a statement.

Since the first two cases were found, around a dozen wild
birds found along Sweden’s southeast coast and on the Baltic
island of Gotland have been identified as carrying the H5
virus.

No cases have been reported in domestic fowl.