Health officials across Europe issued restrictions for commercial poultry farms Wednesday after reports that the deadly bird flu virus had turned up at a surprisingly early date in migratory birds in several Western European countries.Just three days ago, an official in Bulgaria dismissed the possibility of an outbreak of the disease in his country. But now there are birds suffering from the disease there and only two more mutations are required for the H5N1 virus to begin spreading from human to human.
The virus was confirmed in mute swans in Greece, Bulgaria and Italy on Saturday, and in Germany on Wednesday. Likely cases were detected in the same species in Slovenia and Croatia on Sunday, Austria on Monday and Denmark on Tuesday.
Health officials had expected wild birds to carry the disease into Europe from Africa in the spring migration. But the swans were probably migrating south to wintering grounds on the Black Sea, officials said, and were driven west by unusually cold weather in Russia and Ukraine.
Is your community prepared?
1 comment:
James:
Given the human penchant for being reactive, rather than proactive, and the need to be shaken out of our lethargy, I actually believe that this story has been underplayed by the media and governments. Given the experiences with past avian flu pandemics, maximum preparedness and caution are indicated. Those two things simply haven't happened yet.
As far as the two permutations, this is based on a statement by the UN official designated to head that organization's Avian Flu efforts and has been widely reported. Here is a link to the Google search I did to recapture that information for you: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=UN%2C+avian+flu%2C+two+mutations&btnG=Search+News.
The latest issue of 'Smithsonian Magazine' has a profile of the preeminent researcher in this area. He is convinced that the reaction of those who are concerned about this disease is not overwrought.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Mark
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