No deadly bird flu strain found in Greek wild duck
ATHENS (AFP) - Greece's agriculture ministry has said that a wild duck found to carry bird flu last week was not ill with the highly pathogenic strain that has killed 152 people in the Far East, the Middle East and China since 2003.
Tests at the EU Reference Laboratory for avian influenza in England found no trace of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
As a result, protective measures enacted in the area where the duck was found have been lifted, the ministry added.
The migratory duck had been killed by a hunter in a coastal area in the central prefecture of Fthiotida, and was found on Friday to carry the H5 avian flu virus, most of whose sub-types are only lethal to birds.
It was the first H5 case reported in Greece since the summer.
Earlier this year, the Greek authorities confirmed 33 cases of H5N1 between February and March, all in wild birds.
Yet even though no domestic poultry cases turned up, demand for chicken in the country immediately plummeted and took weeks to recover.
ATHENS (AFP) - Greece's agriculture ministry has said that a wild duck found to carry bird flu last week was not ill with the highly pathogenic strain that has killed 152 people in the Far East, the Middle East and China since 2003.
Tests at the EU Reference Laboratory for avian influenza in England found no trace of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
As a result, protective measures enacted in the area where the duck was found have been lifted, the ministry added.
The migratory duck had been killed by a hunter in a coastal area in the central prefecture of Fthiotida, and was found on Friday to carry the H5 avian flu virus, most of whose sub-types are only lethal to birds.
It was the first H5 case reported in Greece since the summer.
Earlier this year, the Greek authorities confirmed 33 cases of H5N1 between February and March, all in wild birds.
Yet even though no domestic poultry cases turned up, demand for chicken in the country immediately plummeted and took weeks to recover.