Bulgaria tested dozens of waterfowl found dead in its wet zones
on Saturday, a day after it detected its first case of bird flu in
a sick swan that could be dangerous to humans.
"We received some 26 dead wild birds today and we took samples
for testing. The tests take four days," Bulgaria's chief
veterinarian Zheko Baichev said.
Bulgaria stepped up surveillance on its wet zones along the
Danube river and Black Sea and called for people to report any dead
birds after it detected its first case of H5 avian flu on
Friday.
Bulgaria will send a sample from the infected dead swan, found
on the Danube River banks in northwestern Bulgaria, to a lab in
Britain on Monday to investigate whether it is the highly
pathogenic H5N1 strain, Baichev said. Results are due in a
week.
Seven swans and a white-headed goose were found dead at Shabla
lake, while another eight dead swans were found at the Durankulak
lake, the environmental ministry said.
The two lakes near the Black Sea coast close to the border with
Romania lie along the Pontic migratory route, on which birds travel
south from northern Russia and Scandinavia to northern Africa.
Other birds were found dead along lakes and rivers across the
country, state news agency BTA reported.
Sandwiched between Romania and Turkey, which have both been hit
by outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain, Bulgaria has been seen as a
possible destination for the virus.
(Chinadaily.com via agencies February 5, 2006)
