European Commission spokesman Philip Tod delivered the bad news to Hungary on Monday, January 29, when he revealed that the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has now been confirmed in the country.
"The Hungarian authorities were informed by the European Reference Laboratory for Avian influenza in Weybridge [near London] that the Avian influenza that was detected last week in Csongrad county was indeed the H5N1 strain," he said.
And it doesn’t end there. Tod confirmed that Hungarian authorities also suspect a second outbreak in the same area southeast of the country. He said they had responded by slaughtering over 9-thousand geese on the farm.
HUNGARIAN AUTHORITIES
"I can confirm that the Hungarian authorities informed the European Commission that they detected [another] Avian influenza H5N1 in the town of Derekegyhaza, about eight kilometers from the farm where an outbreak was reported last week," he told reporters. "This outbreak is a flock of 9,384 gees. Increased mortality in this flock was detected by the Hungarian authorities on the 26th January. As a precaution the flock and animals in a one kilometer zone around the farm were [slaughtered]"
The origin of the Hungarian outbreak is still being investigated. But wild birds are considered "a strong possibility" by the European Commission. Sandor Szigeti, the Chief Veterinarian of the Csongrad province where the deadly strain was detected, has warned that authorities are still struggling to prevent further outbreaks.
"The infection is huge among the wild birds. It can break out anywhere anytime," he said. "We urge the poultry producers and farmers to inform us immediately when they notice something strange. This way we can act quickly."
AVOIDING PANIC
Although the European Commission has tried to avoid panic in the region, several neighboring countries as well as Russia have already closed their borders for Hungarian poultry.
While so far about 160 people have died from the H5n1 strain of bird-flu, experts fear the virus could mutate, causing a pandemic like the Spanish flu in 1918 which killed millions of people. (The headquarters of BosNewsLife News Agency is based in Hungary).
