Denmark and Afghanistan latest to confirm bird flu outbreaks
Denmark’s Ministry for Consumer and Family Affairs said a buzzard had tested positive for the disease, and a sample was sent to the EU reference laboratory in England for final verification.
Danish authorities said they would not take any specific action beyond measures adopted yesterday after authorities announced the H5 bird flu subtype had been detected.
The measures in force include setting up protection zones along the south-western coast of Zealand, the island on which the capital, Copenhagen, is situated.
The announcement came a day after neighbouring Sweden confirmed its first case of H5N1.
The H5N1 virus has killed at least 98 people in Asia, the Middle East and Turkey since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Experts fear it may mutate to a form passed between people, sparking a pandemic.
Meanwhile, lab tests confirmed the first outbreak of H5N1 strain of bird flu in war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Sweden also announced an outbreak of the virulent virus after two wild birds were found to be infected.
In India, health workers slaughtered tens of thousands of chickens in dozens of villages to contain the country’s second bird flu outbreak.
Burma, meanwhile, culled 5,000 birds in a two-mile radius of a farm where the country’s first case of H5N1 was detected last week, the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department said yesterday. It has also banned the sale of chicken and eggs near the property where 112 chickens died.
North Korea also said it has ordered all poultry to be penned up to prevent infection from migratory birds possibly carrying the disease.
A joint UN-Afghan statement said samples taken from six birds in the capital, Kabul, and the eastern city of Jalalabad, tested positive for the virus, raising concern about how the impoverished nation’s government will deal with an outbreak of the disease.
The government has already sought international aid to buy protective clothing for its staff, as well as disinfectant and vaccines.
Afghanistan lies at a crossroads for migratory birds, and its neighbours, including Iran and India, have already detected outbreaks of the virus, which has killed or forced the slaughter of tens of millions of chickens and ducks across Asia since 2003.
