Home>News Center>World
         
 

Bird flu found in Italy, Greece, Bulgaria
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-12 08:50

Bird flu has reached Western Europe, with Italy and Greece announcing Saturday they had detected the H5N1 strain of the virus in dead swans.

The announcement that the disease was detected in five swans in southern Italy came a day after the opening of the Winter Games in Turin, several hundred miles to the north. Italian officials said the virus had only affected wild birds and posed no immediate risk to people.

The European Union said the deadly strain, which has infected at least 166 people and killed 88, most in Asia, also had been confirmed in swans in Bulgaria.


Swans are seen at Stavros town in northern Greece, some 480 km (298 miles) north of Athens, February 10, 2006. Greece and Italy said on Saturday they had found swans with the H5N1 bird flu virus, the first known cases in the European Union of wild birds with the deadly strain of the disease. Picture taken February 10, 2006. [Reuters]

No human infections were reported in the three countries, but the outbreak raised concerns that the spread of the disease could increase chances for it to mutate into a form easily transmissible among humans, who generally catch the disease from domestic poultry.

"It's a relatively safe situation for human health; less so for animal health," Italian Health Minister Francesco Storace said.

Also Saturday, authorities in Nigeria said they were investigating whether the deadly strain, which was discovered in the country last week, had spread to humans after at least two children were reported ill.

The U.N.'s chief bird flu expert said the spread of bird flu, which has been ravaging poultry stocks across Asia since 2003, increased the chance that the virus would mutate into a form transmitted between humans and set off a pandemic. Most human deaths from the disease so far have been linked to contact with infected birds.

"We have got bird flu now in southeast Asia, central Asia, eastern Europe, and west Africa," Dr. David Nabarro said, before the Greek and Italian announcements. "Compared with eight months ago, this is a major extension of the avian influenza epidemic."

Experts said they were reassured by the fact that the virus has been detected in wild birds in Western Europe instead of on farms.

"The risk to humans is less if the disease is in wildlife than if it is in poultry," said Juan Lubroth, a senior animal health officer at the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

The virus was found in five swans in the southern Italian regions of Puglia, Calabria and Sicily, Storace said. The birds had arrived from the Balkans, he said, likely pushed south by cold weather.

The European Union said Italy and Greece had agreed to create six miles of protection and surveillance zones around each outbreak area, where birds will be isolated to avoid infecting pet birds, tested for the virus and killed if they are infected.

Hunting wild birds will be banned in the zones, and poultry will not be allowed outside them, according to the Italian Health Ministry.

Greek authorities said health experts were checking poultry on farms and homes in the region where infected swans were found outside the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city.

The 25-nation EU said that H5N1 had been found in wild swans in the Bulgarian wetland region of Vidin, close to the Romanian border.

"There are no reports of people infected with the bird flu virus," the Bulgarian Health Ministry said.

In Nigeria, Health Minister Eyitayo Lambo said authorities were trying to determine whether the H5N1 strain discovered on a farm in the northern state of Kaduna on Wednesday — the first time it was found in Africa — had spread to humans after several people were reported ill. Authorities have since reported the same virus in two other Nigerian states.

Investigations were being conducted in the commercial capital, Lagos, and in Kaduna. Lambo gave no details, but said he expected results to be released Sunday.

Elsewhere, China reported its eighth human death from the H5N1 strain, and Indonesia reported its 18th death.



WPP Winners Gallery 2006
Annual severe winter season drill in South Korea
Muslim world protests over caricatures
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Chinese bank chiefs stand trial in US for embezzlement

 

   
 

Ariel Sharon undergoes emergency surgery

 

   
 

2008 torch to scale highest mountain

 

   
 

China, Japan continue talks on strained ties

 

   
 

Peacekeepers protect Haiti vote centre

 

   
 

Delays over treatment blamed for death rate

 

   
  Shi'ites seen nominating Abdul Mahdi as Iraq PM
   
  Israel protests Russian overtures on Hamas
   
  Khatami defends Iran's nuclear plan
   
  Bush reveals rationale behind surveillance
   
  Japan's former PM: Emperor should visit Yasukuni
   
  Russia, unlike US, supports Asia for top UN post
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 黄色特级片黄色特级片| 性初第一次电影在线观看| 国产精品视频一| 久久精品视频观看| 国产一区在线mmai| 成人国产精品一级毛片视频| 亚洲欧洲精品视频在线观看| 调教15小男生gay脱裤子| 天堂资源在线种子资源| 久久综合九色综合91| 欧美精品www| 嘟嘟嘟www在线观看免费高清| 67194午夜| 手机看片福利久久| 亚洲国产成人精品无码一区二区| eeuss中文字幕| 69女porenkino| 成人Av无码一区二区三区| 亚洲国产精品成人精品软件| 色噜噜狠狠成人中文综合| 国产高清www免费视频| 中文字幕日韩精品在线| 欧美性生交xxxxx久久久| 啊灬啊灬别停啊灬用力啊免费| 91精品国产免费入口| 成黄色激情视频网站| 亚洲人成影院午夜网站| 精品久久久久香蕉网| 国产成a人亚洲精v品无码| 99精品国产高清自在线看超| 日韩人妻无码一区二区三区| 亚洲精品成人片在线观看精品字幕| 领导边摸边吃奶边做爽在线观看| 国内精品久久久久伊人av| 久久99精品国产一区二区三区| 欧美日韩另类综合| 另类视频第一页| 色先锋影音资源| 国产亚洲av综合人人澡精品| 69视频在线看| 国模精品一区二区三区视频|