Media takes pictures as soldiers of the German armed forces Bundeswehr in protection suits put the remains of a dead swan into a plastic bag in a field near the village of Waase at the Baltic island of Ruegen yesterday. German authorities said H5N1, first confirmed in two dead swans in the country yesterday, had spread across the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, a popular resort. State and federal authorities sealed off several areas to the public. - REUTERS
BRUSSELS (Reuters):
THE H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed in Hungary and Croatia yesterday as the deadly virus spreads around the globe, while EU officials considered measures to vaccinate millions of birds in France and the Netherlands.
In India, where officials are scrambling to contain a major outbreak in poultry, hundreds of people turned up for screening at medical camps in areas where bird flu has been reported.
REPORTS FROM 15 NATIONS
At least 15 nations have reported outbreaks in birds this month, an indication that the virus, which has killed more than 90 people, is spreading faster. Migratory birds are thought to be at least one way the disease is being carried and more than 30 countries have now reported cases since 2003, seven of them recording human infections.
Hungary said yesterday that tests showed the virus in three dead swans found last week, while Croatia also confirmed H5N1 had been found in a dead swan on an island in the Adriatic.
Bosnia confirmed its first cases of bird flu on Monday, while Malaysia said H5N1 killed chickens near the capital.
In Brussels, European Union animal health experts considered requests from France and the Netherlands, Europe's biggest poultry producers, to be allowed to vaccinate millions of birds against avian influenza.
"They (experts) discussed it in detail, both scientific and technical," an official at the European Commission told Reuters. "They haven't been able to conclude the discussion and that will continue tomorrow."
TRANSMISSION RISKS
The World Health Organisation said that while no human cases of bird flu had been found in India, Egypt or Nigeria - countries where H5N1 has been found in birds - transmission risks remain as long as the virus is present.
"There is really no time frame. As long as the virus is circulating it could jump into humans," WHO spokesman Dick Thompson told a press briefing in Geneva.
But scientists say the virus has already developed the ability to infect more species of animals and the fear is H5N1 could eventually mutate to pass easily from human to human.
