GERMANY: Germany finds the deadly H5N1 in a dead swan in a zoo

A swan found dead in a zoo in the eastern German city of Dresden was infected with the highly infectious H5N1 strain of bird flu which is dangerous for humans, the local government said on Friday (August 4). The Director of the Dresden Zoo said tests carried out by the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, which advises the government on animal diseases, confirmed the disease in the swan which was found on Wednesday. "We usually have two swans here with their baby. The young animal died and we sent it to the laboratories suspecting H5N1 and unfortunately this was confirmed," he said. "Since yesterday we have been in various crisis meetings to see how we are going to deal with this now. The result means that the zoo can stay open though as there were no other cases and there is no danger to the health of our guests, which we are of course glad about." The Head of the Animal Diseases Unit at the Health Ministry in Saxony, Gerlinde Schneider said they could confirm that it was the highly pathogenic strain. "We actually expected to have cases again amongst wild birds, because we know that the virus exists amongst the wild bird population," she said. "The last case was in Bavaria in May, we haven't had any cases during the summer. That is no doubt due to the fact that there are no migratory birds underway at the moment, and also due to the high ultraviolet radiation and the sunshine at the moment, that kills the virus within hours." As a protective measure, authorities have sealed off an area of 3 km (1.9 miles) and a created a 10 km (6.2 mile) observation zone. Dresden Zoo remains open but has confined its birds to cages, closed off visitor access to them and and stepped up disinfection procedures. Poultry in the zone are being contained and examined and the movement of cats and dogs and poultry products in the area has also been restricted. H5N1 bird flu was discovered in wild birds in Germany in February and in domestic fowl in April.

ITN Source | August 5, 2006

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