H5 bird flu virus reported on French turkey farm

The H5 bird flu virus turned up on a turkey farm in south-eastern France, but it was not immediately clear whether it was the deadly strain, France’s agriculture minister said today.

Dominique Bussereau said more tests were needed to determine if the case involved the H5N1 strain. If confirmed, it would be the first time the disease had spread to poultry stocks in France – the EU’s largest poultry producer.