Finland says mild strain of bird flu in dead gulls

Finnish officials said on Wednesday a low-pathogenic strain of bird flu virus was found in three seagulls discovered dead, but that the birds had died of starvation, not the disease itself.

Tests were being carried out to determine the exact strain of the virus the birds carried, but the National Veterinary and Food Research Institute (EELA) ruled out the pathogenic version that has killed people in Asia.

"The virus is not the H5 or H7 strain to which the highly pathogenic strains generally belong," the institute said in a statement.

Some 200 dead seagulls had been collected by Monday and EELA had run preliminary tests on about 20 of them.

The birds were found to have died of starvation, which had also weakened their immune systems and made them vulnerable to other infections.

Despite finding signs of the bird flu virus, the gulls themselves had not shown any signs of having suffered symptoms of the illness, an EELA spokeswoman said.

Final results of the tests are expected next week.