FoilBird.com
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bird -- bird
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A severe form of avian influenza or ‘bird flu’ – called H5N1 – has affected poultry flocks and other birds in several countries since 2003. As of 24 August 2006, 241 people have also caught the infection, as a result of close and direct contact with infected birds. One hundred and forty one of these have subsequently died. There is no firm evidence that H5N1 has acquired the ability to pass easily from person to person. However, concern remains that the virus might develop this ability, or that it might mix with human flu viruses to create a new virus. It is this ability of avian influenza, to change and to mix, that has given rise to the fear of a new human flu pandemic. This regularly updated feature explains the background to the disease, and assesses the nature of the risk to people living in the UK.
First case of bird flu in Spain
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in Madrid: confirmed the countries first case of avian influenza on 7 July 2006. H5N1 was confirmed in a great crested grebe found dead in the Salburúa wetlands, Alava province (País Vasco) in Northern Spain. The diagnosis was established by the Central Veterinary Laboratory at Algete.
Control measures have been put in place. A protection zone with a radius of 3 kilometres has been established around the outbreak along with a 10 kilometre radius surveillance zone. There are no commercial poultry holdings within this 10-km-radius area. Movement of poultry, and any other captive birds or their products has been prohibited.
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