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Published Date: 2006-02-14 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Avian influenza - worldwide (16): Asia, Europe, Africa
Archive Number: 20060214.0489

AVIAN INFLUENZA - WORLDWIDE (16): ASIA, EUROPE, AFRICA
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In this update:
[1] Europe
[2] Germany, swans
[3] Bulgaria, new suspected & OIE
[4] Greece, swans, OIE
[5] Greece, swans, 2nd outbreak
[6] Russia (Krasnodar, Dagestan), swans
[7] Europe (Ukraine), Asia, Africa
[8] Iran, swan
*****
[1]Europe
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: NewScientist.com, 13 Feb 2006 [edited]
<http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8716>

5 more countries have found the H5N1 bird flu virus in birds in the
last 3 days. Its spread remains consistent with the movements of wild
birds, although certain wild species are also becoming major victims
of the virus, which is leaving a trail of dead swans across Eurasia.
On Friday, Azerbaijan reported that H5N1 had been confirmed in dead
wild birds, including swans, from the Caspian Sea coast. The coast is
a major wintering spot for migrants, including some duck species that
summer in Siberia, where there were H5N1 outbreaks in summer 2005,
and winter from the Caspian and Black Seas through Turkey and the
Mediterranean down to northern Nigeria. The virus has appeared now in
all those areas.
Large numbers of dead wild birds were reported along the Caspian
coasts of Azerbaijan and neighbouring Iran in autumn. Iran announced
in October 2005 that their dead ducks tested negative for avian flu.
But die-offs continued in Azerbaijan until February 2006, according
to press reports, and under foreign pressure Azeri officials finally
sent samples to the flu reference lab in Weybridge, UK, says Juan
Lubroth, head of animal diseases at the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization in Rome.
Then on Sat, 11 Feb 2006, Greece confirmed that it had found H5N1 in
3 dead swans on Thermaikos Gulf near the northern city of
Thessaloniki. Greece is also expected to announce Monday that it
found H5N1 on the Aegean Island of Skiros in a dead red-breasted
goose (_Branta ruficollis_)[picture at
<http://www.birdlife.org/images/raw/b_red-breasted_goose.jpg>] which
conservation organisation Bird Life International describes as
"globally endangered". [The official Greek notification to the OIE,
dated 13 Feb 2006, on the identification of HPAI virus H5N1 in 3 dead
swans, at <http://oie.int/downld/AVIAN%20INFLUENZA/Greece_AI_13_02_2006.pdf>.]
Also on Sat, 11 Feb 2006, Italy confirmed H5N1 in dead swans from the
southern provinces of Puglia, Sicily and Calabria, where birds
wintering near Venice had flown to escape a cold snap. Bulgaria
confirmed H5N1 in dead swans from the Danube delta.
"From what I have seen of the genetic sequence, the Italian virus is
identical to the one from Qinghai," a strain first found in wild
birds at Qinghai Lake in northwest China in spring 2004, says
Lubroth. This strain has since appeared across Siberia, and in
Mongolia, Turkey, Romania, Ukraine and Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Slovenia has found an H5 flu strain in a dead swan near
the Austrian border. It is expected to be confirmed as H5N1. Bird
deaths in Armenia are also under suspicion.
"In Greece and Italy it is very clear wildlife introduced the virus,"
says Lubroth. Without better understanding of which species carry it,
and where, it is hard to be certain in other cases, he says. "We
asked for money for this research 2 years ago." Now the FAO hopes to
radio-track birds and test water from bird habitats for the virus.
Meanwhile, H5N1 continues to spread in Nigeria, with reports of
outbreaks in poultry now from 8 states, possibly including the
megacity of Lagos. People in Nigeria who had flu symptoms and were
near dead birds are being tested, while in Greece several people who
contacted dead wild birds are being tested.
[Byline: Debora MacKenzie]
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
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[3] Germany, swans
Date: 14 Feb 2006
From: Mary Marshall <tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
Source: Reuters AlertNet
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1444456.htm>
H5N1 bird flu found in dead swans in Germany
----------------------
2 dead swans in Germany have tested positive for the deadly H5N1
strain of bird flu, the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Ministry
said on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the ministry told Reuters 2 of 4 dead swans found
on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen had registered positive in an
initial test for the virus -- the first such positive result in Germany.
The spokeswoman added that Agriculture and Consumer Protection
Minister Horst Seehofer was due to make a statement in Berlin on the
matter at 2045 GMT.
"Our emergency committee is meeting right now," the spokeswoman said,
adding that samples were on the way to the reference laboratory in
Great Britain for further testing.
Earlier on Tuesday, neighbouring Austria [see ProMED-mail posting
Avian influenza - Worldwide (16): Austria, suspected 20060214.0486)
as well as Iran said it had detected the virus in dead birds (see
below). The deadly strain of bird flu has so far killed 91 people worldwide.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[3] Bulgaria, new suspected & OIE
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 10:01:31 +0100
From: C Griot <Christian.Griot@ivi.admin.ch>
Source: Sofia News Agency
<http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=59154>

Dead Pelican Found Near Bulgarian Nuke
----------------
A dead pelican was found in the area near to Kozloduy nuclear power
plant, Bulgarian media reported.
The bird was retrieved by the municipal authorities and immediately
sent for initial tests in Sofia. Results on the possible detection of
bird flu in the pelican are expected within a week, local veterinaries said.
Kozloduy, situated in the upper part of the Bulgarian stretch of the
Danube, has added to Vidin, Durankulak, Shabla and Burgas as a place
where dead birds possible killed by avian flu were found.
On Monday the European Commission confirmed that samples sent to the
EU reference laboratory in England after a first analysis by local
research institutes confirmed the H5N1 strain of bird flu in
Slovenia, Bulgaria and Greece.
The Commission said that imports of poultry and poultry products from
non-EU member Bulgaria were already banned and that the restrictions
would be further extended to cover live poultry and birds as well as
eggs and unprocessed feathers from the affected areas.
The EU's top veterinary experts are set to meet in Brussels on 16 Feb
[2006] to analyse the situation.
Chicken consumption has already fallen in Bulgaria since reports on
the imminent bird flu started circulating in the country. Bulgarian
poultry producers said Monday they were concerned that the spread
could cause serious damage to a business worth millions of euros and
which employs more than 20 000 people.
Elsewhere, authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday announced a
ban on the import of live poultry, poultry meat and poultry products
from Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Slovenia.
Macedonia also suspended the import of live poultry and poultry meat
from Bulgaria, Greece and Italy. The same restriction measure would
be imposed for Slovenia, should H5N1 is confirmed on its territory.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Bulgaria's official notification on the case was sent 12 Feb 2006.
(<http://oie.int/downld/AVIAN%20INFLUENZA/Bulgaria_AI_10_02_2006.pdf>).
The report included the following data:
Swan (_Cygnus olor_) found dead in Vidin (Danube river). Start of the
event: 31 Jan 2006.
1st confirmation, by the National Diagnostic Research Veterinary
Medical Institute - Sofia: 3 Feb 2006.
Diagnosis details: Virus Isolation In Embryonated Chicken Eggs.
Result: H5 positive.
Final confirmation, by the Reference Laboratory of EU in England
/Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge: 11 Feb 2006.
Diagnosis details: (Real time) RT- PCR. Result: H5N1 positive.
Results of the tests in the additional swans will be posted when
available. - Mod.AS]
******
[4] Greece, swans, OIE
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: OIE's table update AI update of 14 Feb 2006
<http://oie.int/downld/AVIAN%20INFLUENZA/Greece_AI_13_02_2006.pdf>

Immediate notification: Highly pathogenic avian influenza in Greece
----------------------------------------------------
The following information is derived from the official notification
of Greece to the OIE, dated 13 Feb 2006:
1. On 30 Jan 2006, in the sea area of Paralia-Katerini [40 deg 16 min
N, 22 deg 35 min E], a fisherman found a dead swan and brought it at
the seashore. The veterinary authorities collected the swan and sent
it to the NRL immediately. The swan belongs to a "flock" [pod] that
arrived some 20 days ago, probably from North due to bad weather
conditions. No anatomopathological signs were observed. In addition,
the Veterinary Authority of Pieria has been conducting an epizootic
survey, since 9 Feb 2006 over the whole area of the Prefecture, far
wider than the circle of 10 km around the point of collection.
According to this survey, there are no findings of Avian Influenza in
the area, while strict biosecurity measures have been applied to all
poultry farms, especially to backyard flocks kept at the villages of
the whole Prefecture.
2. On 31 Jan 2006, in the area of the village of Stavros [40 deg 40
min N, 23 deg 41 min E], people informed the veterinary authorities
about the presence of one swan found dead on the coast. The
veterinary authorities collected the swan and sent it to the NRL
immediately. The swan belongs to a "flock" [pod] that arrived some 20
days ago, probably from North due to bad weather conditions. No
anatomopathological signs were observed. In addition, the Veterinary
Authority of Thessaloniki has been applying an epizootic survey,
since 9 Feb 2006, at the whole area of the Prefecture, far wider than
the circle of 10 km around the point of collection. According to this
survey, there are no findings of Avian Influenza in the area, while
strict biosecurity measures have been applied to all poultry farms,
especially to backyard flocks kept at the villages of the whole Prefecture.
3. On 1 Feb 2006, in the area of the village of Nei Epivates [40 deg
30 min N, 22 deg 54 min E], people informed the veterinary
authorities about the presence of one swan found dead on the coast.
The veterinary authorities collected the swan and sent it to the NRL
immediately. [The rest of the text is identical to No.2].
--
ProMED-mail
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******
[5] Greece, swans, 2nd outbreak
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Zeenews.com, 14 Feb 2006 [edited]
<http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=275433&sid=WOR>

Greece yesterday confirmed a 2nd outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu
virus, after tests on a dead goose from the Aegean Sea Island of
Skyros returned positive from an EU laboratory near London.
The announcement comes 2 days after 3 dead migratory swans in
northern Greece were also found to be carrying the virus, leading
local authorities to impose zones of protection around the areas in question.
On Skyros, an island of about 2900 inhabitants in the Central Aegean
Sea, the necessary precautions have already been taken, Mayor
Miltiadis Hadjiyannakis told mediapersons.
"A veterinary squad from the local prefecture is already here, we
have vaccinated a number of municipal staff for house calls, and our
citizens have been briefed on the issue," he said.
Skyros has no major poultry farms, but a 3-km zone around the area of
the dead bird's discovery has been imposed regardless, Hadjiyannakis noted.
A Greek airman who found the goose at the island's airport on 2 Feb
2006 has already been tested, and has displayed no worrying signs, he added.
The virus strain, confirmed today by the EU reference laboratory for
avian influenza in Weybridge, England, was the highly pathogenic H5N1
type also found in the wild swans in northern Greece on Saturday, an
agriculture ministry official said.
Bird hunting has already been banned on Skyros and the prefecture of
Salonika, while owners of poultry in both areas have been ordered to
shut their flocks indoors.
--
ProMED-mail
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[In a later newswire submitted by Mary Marshall
<tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
(<http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060214/hl_afp/healthflugreece_060214111714;_ylt=AjLOmQ4xYTQhVr.tGW8QnWyTvyIi;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl>)
there was information on: "more dead birds cropped up with the H5
strain in the north of the country."
It further stated that "The agriculture ministry on Tuesday [14 Feb
2006] announced that the broad H5 virus category had been isolated on
2 more dead swans in northern Greece. The samples, found in coastal
areas, have been sent to an EU-certified laboratory in Weybridge,
England for H5N1 confirmation tests. Protection zones have been
created around the airport of Skyros, and 3 beaches near the northern
city of Salonika, where the 1st dead birds were discovered. 2 more
dead birds found on Skyros have been sent to an EU-certified
laboratory in Salonika for tests." - Mods. MPP/AS]
******
[6]Russia (Krasnodar, Dagestan), swans
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006
From: Mary Marshall <tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
Source: Reuters alertnet, 13 Feb 2006 [edited]
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L13103252.htm>

Russia has found new cases of H5N1 bird flu in wild fowl in 2 regions
in the south of the country, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday
[13 Feb 2006].
The virus was found in wild swans and ducks in 2 regions bordering
the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, the ministry said.
"Cold weather forces wild fowl to migrate over short distances,
spreading the (bird) flu virus of group A, H5N1 strain," the ministry
said in a statement. "Recently, the virus has been found in wild
swans and wild ducks in the littoral zone of the Krasnodar region and
Dagestan."
The ministry's animal and plants health inspectorate,
Rosselkhoznadzor, has sent veterinary experts to the region to
monitor the situation.
Russia has been battling bird flu in poultry since July 2005, culling
more than 600 000 domestic fowl. No new cases of the virus have been
found in Russia since the end of 2005, but veterinarians warned that
migratory birds could bring the virus back in the spring.
The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain has killed at least 88 people since
2003 in Asia and the Middle East. No cases of human infection have
been registered so far in Russia.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[7] Europe (Ukraine), Asia, Africa
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Bloomberg, 14 Feb 2006 [abridged, edited]
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aLzCjGsfFnOQ&refer=top_world_news

"The virus is moving quite substantially into new locations," David
Nabarro, a United Nations envoy, said yesterday before flying to
Ukraine. "My attention is pretty much equally divided between Europe,
the southern Balkans and Black Sea area, Africa and south Asia.''
Nigeria, with almost 140 million people, is Africa's most populous
country. It borders Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Ukraine's
neighbors include European Union members Hungary, Poland and
Slovakia. The disease in birds creates more opportunity for human
infection and increases the risk of the virus changing into a
pandemic form. Since December 2003, H5N1 has sickened at least 169
people, killing 91.
"There are some quite tricky challenges facing everybody working in
Crimea and I shall be engaging with various government people,''
Nabarro, who is advising UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on avian and
human influenza, said in a telephone interview yesterday. He didn't
say what the challenges were.
An H5 avian-flu subtype was found in 24 villages in Crimea and the
village of Tsevetochnoe was quarantined, the Ukraine Health Ministry
said in a statement yesterday.
The former Soviet republic of 47 million people has reported at least
33 outbreaks of avian flu since November 2005, according to the World
Organization for Animal Health.
The Paris-based organization said today more than 40 000 poultry had
been culled in the Shevchenkovskiy district of Ukraine's Kharkiv
region after Newcastle disease, a type of avian virus, infected 13 346 fowl.
The H5N1 avian influenza strain, which first sickened people in Hong
Kong in 1997, has infected birds in more than 20 countries on 3 continents.
[Byline: Jason Gale]
--
ProMED-mail
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[Ukraine's follow-up report No 9 on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
In Ukraine was sent to the OIE on 9 Feb 2006; available at
<http://www.oie.int/eng/info/hebdo/AIS_32.HTM#Sec11>. According to
the said notification, "no further suspected cases have been
reported" since 28 Jan 2006. The notification further says:
"The State Veterinary Services of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea,
in collaboration with local authorities, have formed 142 groups to
perform clinical examination of backyard poultry throughout the
territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The total number of quarantine posts on the territory of the affected
districts is 3 (1 post in Feodosiya district and 2 posts in
Belogorskiy district).
Quarantine restrictions have been lifted in the following villages:
- Predmostnoye (Dzhankoyskiy district);
- Zolotoye Pole (Kirovskiy district)".
It will be interesting to note if surveillance in Crimean addresses
the wild bird population.
The outbreak of Newcastle disease in the farm "Staroverskiy"
(Shevchenkovskiy district, Kharkiv region) has been notified to the
OIE on 13 Feb 2006 in an alert massage, available at
<http://www.oie.int/Messages/060214UKR.htm>. - Mod.AS]
******
[8] Iran, swan
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006
From: Mary Marshall <tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
Source: Reuters alertnet, 14Feb 2006 [edited]
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14334360.htm>

Iran's veterinary organisation said on Tuesday the first cases of the
H5N1 strain of bird flu had been detected in wild swans in the
Islamic Republic. [A later newswire states "The deadly strain of bird
flu has killed 135 wild swans on the Iranian part of the Caspian Sea
coast....
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/bird_flu;_ylt=Ar7agDopVY1gOQGTFc0d4qiTvyIi;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl>]
"International laboratory results confirm that some wild swans died
from bird flu," a statement from the organisation said. An official
from the veterinary organisation, who declined to be named, confirmed
the birds had died from the H5N1 strain of the disease, which is
dangerous to humans.
The dead swans came from wetlands near the Caspian Sea port of
Bandar-e Anzali on Iran's northern coast, a wintering spot for many
wild fowl from Russia.
--
ProMED-mail
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[The above news should not surprise; on 7 Feb 2006, the Iranian
veterinary Services officially reported to the OIE about suspected
cases of avian influenza in swans.
The following text was included in the article "Miscellaneous: Update
On Avian Influenza Surveillance In Iran", published by the OIE on 9
Feb 2006, available at <http://www.oie.int/eng/info/hebdo/AIS_32.HTM#Sec11>:
"Information received on 7 Feb 2006 from Dr Hossein Hassani, Head of
Iran Veterinary Organization (IVO), Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture, Tehran:
On 2 Feb 2006, within the framework of the Avian Influenza Passive
Surveillance Plan in place for wild birds in Gilan province, a few
deaths were reported among swans in 2 marshes (Selkeh and Espand) at
Somaesara (Anzali wetland). Immediately, all the relevant activities
were implemented in accordance with OIE guidelines and
recommendations, and all of the indigenous birds in 6 villages
considered to be epidemiological units at risk (i.e. within a 2-km
radius) were destroyed and their owners compensated by the IVO.
Samples taken from the indigenous birds were tested as follows: sera
were tested using haemagglutination inhibition (H5 and H9 avian
influenza and Newcastle disease) and tissue samples were tested by
RT-PCR, all with negative results.
Tissue samples taken from swans will be sent tomorrow morning [8 Feb
2006] to the OIE Reference Laboratory for avian influenza and
Newcastle disease in Padova, Italy, for virological tests".
The control measures applied by the Iranian authorities, even before
confirmation of the suspicions, are impressive.
Following the addition of Iran, Austria and Germany, there are, at
present, 12 countries where swans have been found affected by H5N1.
They are: Mongolia, Russia (Astrakhan region, Krasnodar region and
Dagestan), Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Iran,
Austria and Germany. This dramatic development might have removed the
remaining doubts about the role of wild birds in the epidemiology of
this unprecedented worldwide panzootic, now covering 3 continents. - Mod.AS]

See Also