GERMANY: German authorities search for more dead birds as H5N1-virus has hit 4th state and local premier calls for calm

Record ID: 688513

  • Title: GERMANY: German authorities search for more dead birds as H5N1-virus has hit 4th state and local premier calls for calm
  • Date: 28th February 2006
  • Summary: (EU) UEBERLINGEN, GERMANY (FEBRUARY 26, 2006) (REUTERS) FIREFIGHTERS LEAVING GARAGE IN UEBERLINGEN ON LAKE CONSTANCE ACROSS BORDER WITH SWITZERLAND
  • Embargoed: 15th March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAC7BS47ZM9KF0ACJRQV65QV4TH
  • Story Text: German authorities on Sunday (February 26) have called for calm and continued to look for dead birds after the deadly H5N1-virus has been diagnosed in four out of the country's sixteen states.
    On Lake Constance, some 30 firefighters combed the shores in Ueberlingen to look for any carcasses of wild birds while Switzerland, just across the water, has confirmed its first avian flu case on Sunday. Further tests are needed to determine if it is the H5N1 strain of the virus, according to the Swiss Federal Veterinary Office.
    During a visit to the eastern state of Brandenburg which on Saturday became Germany's fourth region to report the outbreak of bird flu, state premier Matthias Platzeck asked for calm.
    Platzeck stressed that H5N1 was "an animal disease" and that worldwide, not a single case of a human passing on the disease to another human was known.
    "I would ask everyone to take this very seriously -- we are doing it -- but at the same time, we all need to ensure that this does not lead to hysteria because there is not the slightest reason," Platzeck told reporters in Criewen after a trip to nearby Schwedt national park on the border with Poland.
    The virus, which spreads easily among birds is still relatively rare in humans.
    Bird flu has killed at least 92 people worldwide since 2003, spreading from Asia to the Middle East and reaching Europe this year along wild bird migration patterns.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register