France says H5N1 bird flu virus confirmed in swans
Pastor Dale Morgan
France says H5N1 bird flu virus confirmed in swans*
By Sybille de La Hamaide
Reuters
Thursday, July 5, 2007; 7:49 AM
PARIS (Reuters) - Tests have confirmed that three swans found dead in
eastern France were killed by the H5N1 bird flu virus, the French
agriculture ministry said on Thursday, France's first cases of the
disease in over a year.
The "high" level means that birds and poultry in mainland France will
either have to be locked up or protected by nets to avoid all contact
with wild birds, a ministry official said.
Pigeon races and other events where birds are gathered will be forbidden.
"Michel Barnier, minister of agriculture and fishing, is putting in
place the risk-prevention measures corresponding to the shift from the
'moderate' level to the 'high' level," the ministry said in a statement.
Germany said it was raising its assessment of the risk of bird flu
following the French announcement and after officials on Wednesday
discovered more birds that had died of the H5N1 virus, this time in the
eastern state of Thuringia.
Spain's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on Thursday asked
veterinary services to be more vigilant in the outlook for possible bird
flu cases.
Spain already bans hunting with decoys, outdoor poultry raising and the
isolation of breeding areas for wild aquatic birds in high-risk zones
like bird migratory paths and wetlands.
In 98 "humid zones" in France, or around 15 percent of the country,
there will be special veterinary checks at poultry farms.
"EXTREMELY VIGILANT"
French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said on French television that
the country was not threatened by a flu pandemic at this stage but that
the government would be remain on alert.
"We have to be extremely vigilant because the large flu epidemic that
appeared after World War I, also known as Spanish flu, was of avian
origin," she said.
In Britain, the government said there were no new measures in place yet
although the situation in France was being monitored in close liaison
with the European Commission.
"A preliminary outbreak assessment is under way and we are monitoring
the risks. We would urge all bird keepers to maintain high levels of
biosecurity and vigilance," a spokeswoman said.
The 1918-1919 flu killed at least 30 million people worldwide.
France, Europe's biggest poultry producer, increased its precautions
against bird flu in June, saying the risk of the disease hitting the
country had gone up after it was found in a number of wild birds in
Germany and in the Czech Republic.
A French poultry breeders' group said in a statement that sanitary
practices they put in place gave them sufficient tools to thwart the
spread of the disease.
Last year, 13 European Union member states had confirmed cases of bird
flu -- Germany, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Britain, the Czech
Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, France and Hungary.
In France, the virus was found in more than 60 wild birds and at a farm
with 11,000 turkeys. It had not been detected in the country since April
2006.
More than 30 countries have reported outbreaks in the past year, in most
cases involving wild birds such as swans.
Globally, the H5N1 virus has killed nearly 200 people out of over 300
known cases, according to the World Health Organisation. None of the
victims were from Europe.
(Additional reporting by Francois Murphy and Sonya Dowsett in Madrid)