Germany sees no raised threat after bird flu case

13-MAR-2009 Intellasia | Reuters

Germany's animal health authority said on Wednesday it sees no increased threat from bird flu following the discovery of a case in a wild bird.

The European Union on Wednesday said H5N1 bird flu, the EU's first case of the lethal strain of the contagious disease this year, was found in a wild duck shot on January 10 during a hunt near the town of Starnberg in the south German state of Bavaria. [ID:nLA952510]

"This was an individual discovery among wild birds which must be reckoned with occasionally," said a spokeswoman for the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, the German government's national animal diseases agency.

The institute, which advises the government on threat levels, still regarded the overall threat of bird flu level from wild birds as low, she said.

The duck was shot as part of an EU monitoring programme of bird flu among wild birds, not as spor, she said.

The bird involved had only a small level of the virus and this was found after it was tested by the Friedrich Loeffler institute as part of the national screening programme on March 5. The bird had no outward signs of sickness.

"We continue to believe that this virus is present in wild birds at a relatively low level," she said. "This is often not actively visible as the animals do not necessarily become ill."

"This (case) is nothing exceptional and does not change our overall risk assessment."

The last outbreak in poultry of H5N1 in the EU was detected in October 2008 in the east German state of Saxony.

The town council of Starnberg said it was not setting up a quarantine zone around the area where the bird was shot as there were no signs of further infection in the last eight weeks.

The EU had agreed to this, the council said in a statement.

The council appealed to members of the public to report any dead water birds.