Avian Influenza Reported in 3 More Countries [News]
Washington Post
15 February 2006
Associated Press
TEHRAN, Feb. 14 -- Iran on Tuesday said 135 wild swans died of bird flu in marshlands near the Caspian Sea in the country's first case of the spreading virus, and officials in Germany and Austria said the virus had apparently come across their borders as well.
The disease's likely spread to three new countries follows the recent deaths of humans from the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Turkey and Iraq, Iran's neighbors, and the march of the disease into the European countries of Greece and Italy.
Olympic officials in Italy said bird flu posed no threat to the Turin Olympics. But an official in Nigeria warned that bird flu was fast spreading in that country, and a U.N. expert said the strain may have surfaced in neighboring Niger.West Africa wild birds under scrutiny in flu checks [News-Interview]
Reuters
14 Feb 2006
Nick Tattersall
DJOUDJ, Senegal, Feb 14 (Reuters) - One of West Africa's biggest bird sanctuaries on a main migration route to Europe is stepping up checks for bird flu as U.N. officials warn wildfowl returning from the region could spread the virus even wider.
Hundreds of thousands of wild birds from Europe spend winter on the Djoudj wetlands, which run along Senegal's northern border with Mauritania, and will start their return journey over the next few months.
Deadly H5N1 bird flu, which has killed at least 91 people in Asia and the Middle East, was detected in poultry in Nigeria last week, the first cases in Africa. The strain was also confirmed in wild birds in the European Union for the first time at the weekend.
Nick Tattersall
DJOUDJ, Senegal, Feb 14 (Reuters) - One of West Africa's biggest bird sanctuaries on a main migration route to Europe is stepping up checks for bird flu as U.N. officials warn wildfowl returning from the region could spread the virus even wider.
Hundreds of thousands of wild birds from Europe spend winter on the Djoudj wetlands, which run along Senegal's northern border with Mauritania, and will start their return journey over the next few months.
Deadly H5N1 bird flu, which has killed at least 91 people in Asia and the Middle East, was detected in poultry in Nigeria last week, the first cases in Africa. The strain was also confirmed in wild birds in the European Union for the first time at the weekend.
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