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Bird flu confirmed in 8 EU countries
Feb 26, 2006, 17:10, Reviewed by: Dr. Priya Saxena
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Britain has not yet been affected by bird flu, apart from two Taiwanese finches that were discovered to have the H5N1 strain of the virus in a quarantine facility, which they have not been allowed to leave.
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By IANS,
With the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus surfacing in France Saturday, the dreaded disease has been detected in a total of eight European Union countries since it first appeared in the union Feb 11.
In Germany, the bird flu virus was confirmed Feb 14 in dead swans on the Baltic island of Ruegen. The H5N1 virus reached the mainland in eastern and northern parts of West Pommerania Feb 19 and the Baltic coast of Mecklenburg Feb 23.
Bird flu was reported in Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Wuerttemberg Feb 24. By Feb 25, the pathogen was confirmed in more than 110 animals.
The French Food Safety Agency laboratory confirmed the virus in a wild duck that had been found dead in the eastern department of Ain Feb 18. France reported the first case of bird flu in domestic poultry on a breeding farm Feb 25.
The virus was also detected in deceased turkeys. More than 400 of the 11,000 animals kept indoors died from the disease at the facility in Versailleux. Five employees at the affected facility were being treated by doctors as a preventative measure.
In Greece, the virus was detected in three dead swans Feb 11. The agriculture ministry has since confirmed H5N1 in a total of five swans and one wild goose.
Italy announced Feb 11 that two dead swans had succumbed to H5N1. The country has since confirmed 16 cases, including one wild duck and a buzzard.
On Feb 13 the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety's (AGES) laboratory detected the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus in two of the dead swans found in the state of Styria.
Slovenian authorities confirmed the strain in a dead swan found near the Austrian border Feb 13, while the Slovakian government confirmed H5N1 infections in a peregrine found near Bratislava and a grebe found in the capital Feb 23.
The Hungarian government announced Feb 21 that tissue-sample tests had detected H5N1 in three deceased swans. Four further tests of dead wildfowl were still being carried out.
Britain has not yet been affected by bird flu, apart from two Taiwanese finches that were discovered to have the H5N1 strain of the virus in a quarantine facility, which they have not been allowed to leave. 
- Indo-Asian News Service
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