Bird flu confirmation in Spain
July 19th, 2006
The first Spanish case of bird flu was confirmed by a laboratory in the Iberic Peninsula, testing a sample taken from a wild bird. The Agriculture Ministry issued a press release saying The National Reference Laboratory had confirmed a case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus. A great crested grebe was found dead in the northern province of Alava, in a marsh area outside the city of Vitoria. Even last year, Spanish officials admitted that bird flu spreading to the country was only a matter of time, as several European countries were already confronted with the disease and Spain is on the route of northern-bound migratory birds from Africa.