Bird Flu Center

German authorities have decided to close the doors of a poultry farm in the south of the country, after the presence of the H5N1 virus was confirmed in a number of birds in the area. Further checks on other samples from farm birds were taken in for analysis, as the farm raises around 44000 birds. Several cases of avian influenza were identified in Germany in June this year, as well as 2006. Also this week, Russia banned poultry imports from Italy, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease in the country.

A highly pathogenic form of bird flu is again spreading through Europe. Most recently, Germany and the Czech Republic have reported outbreaks of H5N1, despite the European Union intensifying its efforts to prevent the reappearance of the virus among poultry. Some specialists are claiming that the latest outbreaks are a sign that the disease is in the process of mutating and becoming endemic on the continent.

The Czech Republic is dealing with a spread of the virus among broilers, as 60 birds were found to be infected in a farm in Norin. Another outbreak was discovered at a turkey farm in the same area. 6,000 birds had to be culled to halt the spread of the disease.

Germany has also confirmed that the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus strain was detected in 6 wild birds found dead near Nuremberg and later on reported the discovery of 3 wild swans in the east of the country, which carried the same disease. Germany’s previous virus detection dated from August 2006, when a zoo in Dresden was confirmed as a bird flu carrier.

Friedrich-Loeffler Institute officials (Germany’s top animal health institution) have released a new report containing recommendations for the country’s veterinary workers, as traces of the H5N1 virus was found in the body of a dead domestic goose. Previously, a considerable number of wild birds had been killed by the same highly pathogenic virus.

Meanwhile, in France the Agriculture Ministry announced that three wild birds had been found dead in the department of Moselle. Subsequent research revealed that the birds had been infected with the avian flu virus. France has seen the first case of the disease last February, where the virus was found in an area in the east of the country. 11,000 farms had to cull or vaccinated all their birds as a result.

A number of wild birds have been found dead in the region around Nuremberg in Germany and subsequent testing have proven that they were infected with a lethal strain of the bird flu virus. However, authorities stated today that they don’t expect the disease to spread outside the area where the birds were discovered over the course of last weekend. The outbreak is still under investigation, as Germany has just started a national testing programme designed to detect such cases early on.