Thursday, October 13, 2005

H5N1 Update: Bird flu confirmed in samples in Romania

An AP newswire atricle, via The International Herald Tribune, reports that:

Experts have confirmed that a bird flu virus found in samples taken from dead birds in Romania's Danube Delta is the H5 type, authorities said Thursday.

The samples are being sent to Britain to identify the specific strain of the virus. So far there are no indications it is the H5N1 strain, which is blamed for the deaths of more than 60 people in Asia since 2003.

Agriculture Ministry spokesman Adrian Tibu said tests have identified the virus as an H5 type and samples would be sent to a laboratory in Weybridge, southeast England, for further analysis to determine the exact strain.

Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said he hoped it was a low-intensity virus and authorities were ''continuing measures to isolate the affected area.''

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