Europe

H5N1 bird flu virus confirmed in Czech Republic

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-06-22 02:08

Hundreds of turkeys at a farm in eastern Czech Republic were killed by the H5N1 bird flu virus, the State Veterinary Administration confirmed on Thursday.

Tests in the National Reference Laboratory in Prague showed that the turkeys in Zalsi, east Bohemia area of the country, were killed by the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus.

Veterinaries believe that the turkeys bred at the farm possibly got infected through hay litter, which came from a pond and could be contaminated by droppings of birds living in the wild.

According to local Veterinary Administration, people face no danger of the bird flu.

Health Minister Tomas Julinek said that the country has a sufficient supply of medicines and is prepared for a possible flu pandemic.

The bird flu virus emerged in a poultry flock in Usti and Orlice, east Bohemia area for the first time on Wednesday. Out of the flock of 6,000 birds, 1,800 have died.

The farm has been closed and all animals will be killed. Clean- up and disinfection will follow.

Zalsi farm chairman Frantisek Bartos said the turkeys have not been delivered to the retail network yet.

"We would have sold them in one and a half months when they would have weighed 18 kg. Now they weigh 10 kg," he said.

The Regional Veterinary Office have taken stringent measures to prevent the disease from spreading.

Any transfers of birds from the afflicted flock have been banned, previous transfers of poultry have been checked and the turkey flock has been tightly sealed.

A 3-km inner protection zone and a 10-km outer surveillance zone will also soon be in place.

The remaining birds in the afflicted flock in the village of Tisova will be culled.

The veterinary administration will check not only commercial but also private flocks within the 10-km zone.

The first case of bird flu in the Czech Republic was found in March 2006 after which 13 cases of the disease have been registered. In all cases birds have been infected by the H5N1 virus, which also poses danger to human beings.