by Playfuls Staff |
19th May 2006
The Czech Republic's fight against bird flu has spread to a second area of the country where two infected swans were found this week, officials said Friday. [more]
The dead birds found near the Czech-Austrian-Slovak border, near the town of Breclav, brought the number of confirmed avian flu cases in the country to 14.
The first 12 cases were found earlier this year in an area south of Prague near Ceske Budejovice. Each bird tested positive for the dangerous H5N1 strain that can infect humans.
State Veterinary Administration spokesman Josef Duben said the latest birds had the H5 strain and will be tested for H5N1. Meanwhile, he said, a fowl quarantine zone has been established near Breclav, extending a few kilometres into Austria and Slovakia.
A similar quarantine near Ceske Budejovice was lifted last week because there had been no new cases of the disease for three months.
© 2006 DPA
