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Europe's bird flu strain most dangerous: experts
Feb 26, 2006, 17:19, Reviewed by: Dr. Priya Saxena
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"H5N1 exists in several strains," explained a spokeswoman at the Riems institute. A less pathogenic strain of H5N1 was found in 2004 in wild ducks in France and last year in ducks in northern Italy, she said.
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By IANS,
The bird flu found this month in the shadow of the Alps is the most virulent sort, German animal infection specialists said Saturday as signs mounted that the H5N1 influenza virus must have reached Europe some time last year.
It was announced Friday that a duck found Feb 15 on Lake Constance, in sight of the Austrian and Swiss Alps, had the disease. Earlier this month, wild birds were found on Germany's northern coast with the same illness.
With Germany still in the grip of winter, scientists said it was plainer than ever that the virus had not just arrived with migratory birds, but had been present since last year. The dead duck was a type that lives on the shore of Lake Constance all year round.
After tests at Germany's animal infections institute in Riems, northern Germany, an official of Baden-Wuerttemberg state said that the duck had caught the deadliest strain, known as H5N1/Asia.
The test results, which had not been expected till Monday, were rushed out amid growing public alarm in Germany.
Helicopters were deployed to search reeds on the lake for more dead birds in the hope of checking the spread of the disease.
While wild bird populations quickly recover from attacks of bird flu, major efforts are under way to keep it out of domestic poultry, amid fears that the virus could mutate into a major danger to humans.
"H5N1 exists in several strains," explained a spokeswoman at the Riems institute. A less pathogenic strain of H5N1 was found in 2004 in wild ducks in France and last year in ducks in northern Italy, she said.
The virus, which has claimed the lives of at least 90 people who handled birds since it was first detected in South-East Asia in mid-2003, is thought to have been brought to Europe by migrating birds. 
- Indo-Asian News Service
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