Slovakia says finds first cases of H5N1 flu virus
Initial tests in Slovakia showed the H5N1 strain of bird flu in a wild falcon and a grebe, the first two cases of the virus found in the country, Agriculture Minister Zsolt Simon said on Thursday.
The samples will now be tested in EU’s reference laboratory in Weybridge, Britain, for confirmation of the initial results from the Slovak National Reference Laboratory.
“I expect that the samples will be delivered sometime today,” Simon told reporters.
He said the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which is deadly to humans, was discovered in birds found dead on Tuesday. “The (initial) tests showed H5N1 type of virus,” Simon said.
The dead grebe was found near the Danube river outside the capital Bratislava, on land owned by oil refiner Slovnaft. The falcon was found in Gabcikovo, on the river Danube about 60 km (37 miles) southeast of the capital.
The authorities had already set up a 3 km (about 2 miles) quarantine around the sites where the dead birds were found, and no poultry products can be shipped from those areas. A 10 kilometre (6 mile) radius supervision zone had also been declared.
The Agriculture Ministry had earlier ordered all bird breeding farms in Slovakia to keep their birds inside to prevent any contacts with wild birds.
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