THE H5N1 form of bird flu was confirmed in Hungary, the seventh EU country afflicted with the lethal strain, even as health officials on three continents admitted containment measures taken so far have proved largely ineffective.

BUFFER zones with restricted movement for people and animals will be among the precautions taken in the event of an outbreak of avian flu in Ireland.

European Union veterinary experts today backed plans to boost surveillance of migratory birds and stricter bans on imports as officials scrambled to find ways to curb the spread of deadly bird flu in Europe.

The European Union today said it was following closely the bird flu outbreak in northern Nigeria and was readying millions of euros of aid for Nigeria to help fight the spread of the disease.

The European Union today earmarked €185m to eradicate animal diseases such as rabies and mad cow disease across the 25-member bloc.

Dead swans found in a Croatian nature park were infected with the lethal H5N1 bird flu strain, the agriculture ministry said today after receiving test results from a British laboratory.

The European Union today announced that the dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in Croatia, the latest European nation to be hit by the disease.

European Union veterinary experts today agreed to new measures aimed at preventing the deadly bird flu virus strain H5N1 from entering the 25-nation bloc.

Tests so far on suspected bird flu cases in Romania have been negative, the EU has said.

Turkish authorities said today they had finished culling birds in a quarantined area where preliminary tests detected bird flu and urged people not to panic, saying that the disease had been contained, media reported.

AVIAN flu will “undoubtedly” be carried to Britain by migrating birds, the president of the British Veterinary Association warned yesterday.

The European Union’s high court today upheld proposed restrictions on the sale of food supplements, despite objections from trade organisations that claimed the rules would ban popular vitamin pills.