- Title: ROMANIA: Deadly bird flu strain confirmed in Romania's Danube delta
- Date: 15th October 2005
- Summary: TEAM SEARCHING FOR BIRDS (2 SHOTS) AREA BEING DISINFECTED (2 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 30th October 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Romania
- City:
- Country: Romania
- Topics: Health
- Reuters ID: LVADX2TLR7CTFMLRMRXIQAKIYZ9X
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- Story Text: Laboratory tests detected the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in samples from Romanian ducks on Saturday (October 15), confirming the virus had arrived for the first time in mainland Europe.
A British laboratory testing the samples established that three birds found dead in Romania's Danube delta last week contained the strain, which has killed more than 60 people and caused the death of millions of birds in Asia since 2003.
A spokesman for Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said they were in a position to confirm it is H5N1.
The spokesman said the laboratory was continuing to work to pin down the origin of the virus and the link to a strain found in Turkey.
Turkey reported an outbreak of the deadly strain earlier this week and Bulgaria, Romania's southern Black Sea neighbour, has stepped up controls to guard against a similar outbreak.
spreads easily among humans, creating a pandemic that might kill tens of millions.
Romania has not reported any cases of bird flu so far in humans. Turkey tested nine people from the Western town of Turgutlu for possible bird flu on Friday after 40 pigeons died, but no immediate sign of illness was detected, officials said.
The Danube delta contains Europe's largest wetlands and is a major way station for migratory wild birds coming from Russia, Scandinavia, Poland and Germany and heading for warmer North Africa, including the Nile delta, for winter.
Officials have sealed off the affected area and vaccinated the population against regular flu to boost their immunity.
Romanian Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said preventive measures such as checkpoints on roads to disinfect those who travel out of the area and medical surveillance of all domestic birds would be taken in six counties in the south-eastern Dobrogea region.
Transport of live birds from these counties was forbidden, and domestic birds must be closed indoors or in yards to avoid contact with wild birds, Flutur said. He said pigs must also be isolated because the virus can be passed on to them. Fairs selling live birds and pigs were forbidden across Romania.
In the village of Maliuk on the Danube, masked and overalled officials collected about 600 domestic birds to be destroyed on Saturday. On Friday (October 14), officials isolated the bird flu virus in two more birds -- a hen and a swan -- in the village, 40 km (25 miles) north of Ciamurlia where the first outbreak occurred.
Veterinarians continued to search for any poultry which may have escaped them and disinfected farms in the Danube delta village of Ciamurlia. One woman told how the cull's effect.
"We are preparing potatoes with sauce for the children because there is no more meat," she said.
Romanian authorities have culled 18,000 domestic birds so far in the village this week and said 45,000 birds in the area would have to be killed to prevent the disease from spreading.
Romania's government has asked the Swiss drug company Roche Holding AG to provide 45,000 doses of the Tamiflu antiviral drug as a precautionary move to fight a possible spread to humans. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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