Bird flu in wild birds falling: EU
Surveillance of wild birds in the EU shows that cases of avian
influenza are falling, according to the European Commission.
A survey of wild birds, published from data collected by the EU's designated
community reference laboratory in the UK, was carried out over 10
The survey found that between February 2006 and 21 May 2006,
741 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza were detected in wild birds in 13
member states - Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Germany, France,
Slovakia, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Czech Republic and UK.
was reached in March with 362 cases, declining to 162 in April and 17 in May.
The most commonly affected wild birds have been swans, followed by ducks, geese,
birds of prey and others.
There have been four outbreaks of H5N1
avian influenza in poultry in the EU, and all of these were quickly eradicated
following detection. No human case of the H5N1 virus has occurred in the
In response to the growing spread of H5N1 from South-East Asia in
2005, the EU intensified its surveillance and early detection programmes, both
for wild birds and poultry.
The spread of the virus in domestic
poultry in Europe has heightened public fears about eating chicken. As
previously reported, consumption of poultry meat has dropped by more than half
in some EU states, with 300,000 tonnes and more in storage across the
Meanwhile, Hungarian authorities have informed the European
Commission of a confirmed outbreak of avian influenza in a domestic flock of
geese in BÃ¡cs-Kiskun, in the south of the country.
Samples will be
sent to the reference lab in the UK to determine whether the outbreak is the
H5N1 strain. The Hungarian authorities are applying the necessary disease
If confirmed as an outbreak of H5N1, this would
constitute the fifth outbreak of high pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in
domestic poultry in an EU member state.
Bird flu has killed 64% of
people known to be infected with the virus this year, with were 217 cases of
infection and 123 deaths worldwide, according to World Health Organisation
Some scientists are concerned that the H5N1 form of the
virus may mutate into a strain that can be transmitted between humans, starting
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