By Daisy Ayliffe - 5th April 2006
Over 16,000 birds were culled on Wednesday after the H5N1 bird flu virus was detected in a poultry farm in Germany.
Tests confirmed the presence of the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus in domestic fowl.
The presence of bird flu at a large poultry farm is the second instance of H5N1 in domestic fowl in the EU after an outbreak in France in late February.
Several EU countries, including Germany, have reported cases of avian flu in wild birds, but most have so far managed to keep it out of domestic flocks.
“This first case raises many questions,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement.
“It shows the situation is serious. Everything will be done to prevent it from spreading.”
A restricted quarantine zone with a radius of three kilometres has been established in the area. There is also a larger 13 km observation area.
Meanwhile, authorities in the UK also informed the European commission that preliminary tests have detected the H5 virus in a sample from a dead wild swan in Fife, Scotland.
The Scottish Executive confirmed that the bird, found on Wednesday afternoon, was carrying the highly pathogenic H5 avian flu virus.
Samples will be now sent for further tests to determine if it is the H5N1 strain of the virus.
If the H5N1 virus is confirmed, the UK would be the 13th EU country to report cases of the strain in wild birds.
Since 2003, this dangerous strain of the virus has killed over 100 people worldwide.
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