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Deadly bird flu expands in Africa, Europe
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-13 20:50
Gleeson said that testing was carried out at laboratories in Mandalay and
Yangon, the capital, where technicians had received training in how to detect
bird flu from the Food and Agriculture Organization and other international
agencies.
"We have every reason to expect there is sufficient competence (in Myanmar)
to make the diagnosis," Gleeson said. "If the government says they've got it,
then they've got it."
Samples have also been sent to a laboratory in Australia, according to Than
Tun, but Gleeson said the FAO had not been informed of that.
The World Health Organization was waiting for confirmation from the
Australian tests before officially declaring an outbreak in Myanmar, said Jum
Conix.
Cameroon's Minister of Livestock Aboubakary Sarki told reporters the infected
duck was among 10 birds that died in Maroua from Feb. 12-26. He said the
government had already slaughtered birds in the area as a precaution, but did
not say how many.
The fatal virus was first discovered in Africa on a commercial poultry farm
in Nigeria in February. It has since been reported in Niger and Egypt.
Also Sunday, authorities in Poland announced confirmation of the country's
fourth case of deadly avian flu.
Laboratory tests confirmed the H5N1 strain in a dead swan found in a town
near the border with Germany, said Tadeusz Wijaszka, head of the laboratory in
Pulawy, central Poland.
Two wild swans in Greece tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain, the
Agriculture Ministry said Sunday, bringing to 32 the number of bird flu
infections found in birds in Greece since the first case was confirmed Feb. 11.
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