Thursday, March 09, 2006

Bird Flu Not Over Yet

Bird flu may not be in the headlines as much in recent months, but it's far from over and still spreading.

Two recent reports indicate it's hitting both Southern France and Sweden recently:

Bird flu spreads to France's southern region, By Ahmed ElAmin
06/03/2006 - Avian influenza continues to spread in the EU's largest poultry producer, with the country's agriculture ministry reporting over the weekend that the highly pathogenic type H5N1 had been detected in a dead wild swan in the Camargue wetlands. Source FoodProductionDaily

Sweden detects BSE for the first time, along with bird flu, By Ahmed ElAmin
07/03/2006 - Sweden has been hit with a double blow, becoming the first in the Scandinavian region to detect avian influenza in wild birds, and also finding its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a cow. ...On 28 February Sweden reported its first cases of bird flu or avian influenza in wild ducks, the same day the country also reported the BSE incident. Since then, more cases of avian influenza have been found in the wild bird population. Source FoodProductionDaily