Romania reports new cases of bird flu in fowl

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Romania has detected new cases of bird flu in a remote village in the Danube delta where the deadly H5N1 strain was first discovered in October, the farm ministry said on Thursday.

Samples will be sent to a British laboratory to determine whether the infected birds had the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, the country’s chief veterinarian Ion Agafitei told Reuters by phone.

“Five hens and three other dead hens in the village of Periprava, close to the border with Ukraine, tested positive for the H5 type of avian flu,” the farm ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the small village, which has no road access, would be quarantined and culling of up to 1,500 domestic fowl should start soon as a precautionary move.

In October, the Balkan state became the first country in mainland Europe to detect the deadly H5N1 virus in poultry in two villages in the Danube delta, Europe’s largest wetlands near the Black Sea. The Danube delta is a major resting place for migratory wild birds—believed to be the carriers of the virus—and also a way station for birds heading from Russia and Scandinavia towards warmer winter climes in North Africa.

There are fears that the virus might have spread further west after a turkey in a village some 70 miles (113 km) from the delta tested positive for the H5 type of avian flu. Further tests are being carried out on samples from the turkey.

The H5N1 strain has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003 and led to the slaughter of millions of domestic birds. Scientists fear the virus might mutate into a form that could be easily transmitted between humans.

The strain has led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of domestic birds in Romania, a country of 22 million. Romania has not reported any cases of bird flu in humans so far. 

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