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France confirms first case of H5N1 bird flu
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-19 10:50
PARIS (AFP) - The H5N1 strain of bird flu which can be lethal to humans has
been detected in a wild duck found dead in France, the agriculture ministry
said, making it the sixth EU country to be hit.
Tests on the bird, found in the central-eastern Ain department on Monday,
confirmed that it was carrying the highly pathogenic strain of the flu, the
ministry said in a statement.
It was the first case of H5N1 bird flu in the country, which is western
Europe's main crossroads for migratory
birds, potential carriers of the virus.
The French government also said that all necessary measures to prevent the
spread of the virus in the event of the duck being contaminated by the H5N1
strain had already been taken on Friday as a precaution.
The government had also ordered all poultry and tame birds to be kept
indoors, to prevent contamination from wild birds.
All farm ducks and geese were to be vaccinated in three departments on the
Atlantic coast.
A three-kilometre (two-mile) safety cordon has has been set up around the
spot where the duck was found, near the town of Joyeux, and wildlife
surveillance stepped up across a 10-kilometre area.
Agriculture Minister Dominique Bussereau earlier Saturday visited the pond in
Joyeux where the dead wild duck had been discovered.
He hailed the quick response of officials.
"It is the application of regulations which allowed us to immediately
discover... a bird which was carrying the virus," he said.
Initial tests had shown the duck was carrying the H5 bird flu virus, which
further testing revealed to be the highly dangerous H5N1 strain.
Tests were still being carried out on two other dead ducks, found in a
wildlife reserve at the mouth of the Somme river near the north coast.
Within the European Union, the H5N1 virus also has been detected in the
member states of Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy and Slovenia.
Other European countries where the virus has been found include Bulgaria,
Croatia, Romania, Ukraine and Russia.
The virus's advance to the western edge of continental Europe caused shivers
in Britain, where Animal Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said it was now more
likely to jump the English Channel.
"It is more likely now than it was, but it is not inevitable," said Bradshaw
after France announced its initial test results confirming the presence of H5 in
the duck.
"It's still only in wild birds. It hasn't been found in any poultry so far in
EU countries this time," he told the BBC. "But clearly the closer it gets to us
the risk grows. But the risk, according to vets, is still low."
Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has drawn up plans to set up one-mile
(1.6 kilometre) exclusion zones if any wild bird is found in Britain to be
infected with H5N1.
Inside the zone, all poultry movements would be halted, and if any poultry
was found to be infected the entire flock would face being culled.
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