Czechs have first case of H5N1 bird flu strain

[Susie]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27748069.htm

Czechs testing dead bird for H5N1 bird flu strain
27 Mar 2006 09:49:07 GMT

Source: Reuters


PRAGUE, March 27 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic is testing a dead swan for the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the first suspected case in the central European country, the new EU member's chief veterinarian said on Monday.

The swan was found near the southern town of Hluboka nad Vltavou, on the Vltava river, head of the State Veterinary Authority Milan Malena told reporters.

Malena said veterinarians had established the swan had the H5 version of the virus and tests would show by Wednesday if it was the deadly H5N1 strain.

"I expect this to be the H5N1, highly pathogenic form," Malena said. "If the virus is confirmed, veterinary measures will be implemented."

Malena said that if tests in Prague confirm H5N1, samples would be sent to the European Union reference laboratory in Weybridge, Britain.

Neighbours Austria, Slovakia, and Germany have already confirmed cases of the virus.

The H5N1 strain, which has spread from Asia to the Middle East, Africa and Europe, remains essentially an animal disease but can infect people who come into contact with sick poultry.

 

[DB]

Re: Czechs testing dead bird for H5N1 bird flu strain

Re: Czechs testing dead bird for H5N1 bird flu strain

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Bird_flu/0,,2-10-1959_1905439,00.html

Prague - The Czech Republic's first case of bird flu was reported on Monday.
The CTK news agency reported that a swan tested positive for the disease which has been spreading in Europe among wild birds, forcing tough restrictions on poultry farms and cross-border trade.
Czech Agriculture Minister Jan Mladek was expected to discuss the situation on Monday with reporters. A ministry spokesperson declined to confirm the CTK report but told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that "I wouldn't say it is wrong."
Until now avian flu has not been detected in the Czech Republic, even though infected wild birds have been found in each of its neighbours - Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria.
To date 11 European Union countries have reported at least one suspected or confirmed case of the Asian strain of avian influenza H5N1 in wild birds. Last week Czech officials opened two new lab facilities to supplement a testing programme at SVU's national laboratory in Prague, where about 1 300 birds have tested negative in recent months. - Sapa-dpa

 

[ukcz]

Re: Czechs testing dead bird for H5N1 bird flu strain

Re: Czechs testing dead bird for H5N1 bird flu strain

Found it at last then? Just up the river from me.

 

[JJackson]

Re: Czechs have first case of H5N1 bird flu strain

Shame they sent it Weybridge now we won't see the sequence data.

 

[ukcz]

It never rains but it pours

It never rains but it pours

A postcard from Prague:

The Czech Republic reacted well to the news that bird flu has finally been found. Following a statement from the agriculture minister on a political discussion TV show that bird flu was probably already here, news a few weeks later that it has been discovered caused no panic. The government also immediately delivered (via the postal service) an information leaflet for each household, which must have been prepared beforehand.

Front page news for a while, bird flu has now been superceded by the threat of flooding in Prague and actual flooding elsewhere in the country. It is not clear whether the sealing off of the Vltava, the river which bisects Prague, is due to this or bird flu. Why the police should feel that a constant presence is required on the riverside because of flooding remains unclear to me, as does how some plastic police tape helps keep the rising waters at bay. No matter, the effect is the same - the riverside is off limits - which can only be for the good.