H5N1 Makes Return Visit To Germany

The deadly strain of the bird flu virus has resurfaced in Germany in the bodies of at least three dead birds found in the state of Bavaria, Germany's first confirmed cases this year, officials said on Sunday.

The corpses of several more birds found in the southern state are being analysed to see if they also contain the deadliest strain of the H5N1 virus, a spokeswoman for the Bavarian city of Nuremberg said.

The country's top veterinary laboratory, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, confirmed that three wild birds — two swans and a goose — found in two lakes near Nuremberg had tested positive for the worst strain of the H5N1 virus.

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"Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 was detected in more than 700 wild birds in the EU in 2006," the Commission said in a statement. It added that the infected swans in Bavaria were the European Union's first cases reported in wild birds in 2007.

[Source: Reuters AlertNet]