HUNGARY: Hungary has become the sixth EU state to confirm cases of bird flu, while Denmark is testing dead swans reportedly found close to the area where German birds tested positive for the virus.
As the virus spreads, veterinary experts from EU member states are expected to reveal emergency measures today in the event that bird flu reaches commercial poultry. They met yesterday and approved national surveillance plans for early detection of the virus, which involve testing wild and domestic birds in each member state.
The committee of experts also backed a commission proposal to suspend the import of untreated feathers from non-EU states.
The Hungarian authorities confirmed yesterday that three dead swans found in Bacs-Kiskun in the south of the country had tested positive for the H5 strain. Samples were sent to the Community Reference Laboratory in Weybridge, England, for tests to establish whether it is the deadly H5N1 strain, which has killed humans in Asia and Turkey.
The German government late on Tuesday confirmed they had detected the H5N1 strain in wild swans found dead on the island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea.
Greece and Italy have also confirmed cases of H5N1, while Slovenia and Austria, like Hungary, have suspected cases of this strain and are awaiting confirmation. Other European countries to have detected cases of bird flu include Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine, with Romania still awaiting test results.
Once an EU state confirms a case of bird flu, a 3km (1.9 mile) protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone are set up, restricting the movement of birds and requiring poultry be kept indoors.
All cases of bird flu found in the EU so far have been detected in wild birds, but the fear of the virus reaching commercial poultry is so great that France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, The Netherlands and Norway have ordered poultry to be contained indoors.
The EU Commission has said it will provide almost €2 million to cover half the costs of the surveillance plan for early detection, with member states paying the rest.
The amount of money pledged to each state is dependant on the plans submitted. Ireland is to receive €42,000 for its plan, with Italy receiving the most (€427,000) and Estonia receiving the least (€1,450).
Some 60,000 tests on wild birds and 300,000 on domestic birds have been submitted in the various plans. The tests began at the start of the month and will continue until the end of the year.
Iraq became the latest country to declare suspicion of having the virus yesterday.