Bird Flu - Back to Europe

Today reports came that there were cases of H5N1 type of avian influenza detected in Germany. This was reported by the German Ministry of Consumer Right Protection, Food Supplies and Agriculture. The H5N1 type of bird flu is the most dangerous type of this virus to people.

Tests in German laboratories for microbiology have proven that three swans were infected by the dangerous H5N1 strain in a lake near Nürnberg, in the Southern land of Bavaria. Scientists also examine two other specimen taken from a wild duck and a wild goose that were found in two different lakes near Nürnberg.

German authorities have passed the results of the tests further to the European commission and have declared quarantine in the regions were infected birds were found.

Current bird flu appearance is the first one in Germany and also the first case in Europe found by wild birds. On 20 June the first case of human dangerous bird flu virus was found in Czech Republic by local poultry.

Last year the bird flu was detected in 13 countries of the European Union, including Germany. According to the World Health Organization, since the very appearance of the bird influenza there were 300 cases of human infection, of which 200 were lethal. However, there were still no cases of lethal outcome in Europe.

It is worth mentioning that since the first reports of bird flu in Europe, a child was reported infected of this virus in Egypt, in Indonesia another, the 101st, case of infection with the dangerous H5N1 virus was confirmed and in Vietnam a 28-year-old woman died of this virus.

Medics are speaking about another epidemic spreading of the virus since in Czech Republic there were many cases of the virus and in Indonesia 80 people already died of this dangerous virus. This makes Indonesia the most suffering country, since almost a half of lethal outcomes were registered here.