Originally published October 19 2005
Bird flu cases confirmed in Romania
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The European Commission has confirmed the suspicions of Romania's agriculture ministry by announcing that the flu strain found in wild ducks was in fact the H5N1 strain that has infected Asia's poultry.
Tests have confirmed a link between the bird flu found in Romania and the deadly virus that has devastated flocks in Asia and turned up in Turkey, the European Commission said Saturday.
"Tests confirmed that the virus in Romania was an H5N1 strain, but further tests were required to confirm the link with the strain found in Asia and Turkey," the European Union's executive body said in a statement.
Romania has imposed a quarantine on residents in the area where the infected fowl was found and thousands of birds have been slaughtered as a precaution.
Full Image Agriculture Ministry spokesman Adrian Tibu said government officials were holding an emergency meeting Saturday to decide how to respond to the outbreak.
Authorities around the world fear could mutate into a form that can be passed among people, leading to a global pandemic.
The strain also has been discovered on a farm in Turkey, prompting the European Union to ban poultry imports from both Turkey and Romania.
The 25-nation has also agreed on new measures to keep the virus from spreading, including strengthening "biosecurity" on farms and putting early warning systems in high risk areas like wetlands.
EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said no further measures were needed to prevent the virus spreading from Romania at this point, following a ban imposed on poultry imports from there on Thursday.
A spokesman for Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed the tests conducted at a lab in Surrey, south of London, had determined the Romanian virus was the H5N1 strain.
But the spokesman, declining to be identified in keeping with government policy, said further tests were needed to trace the origin of the virus and determine how similar it was to the viruses found in Turkey and in Asia.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml