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Bulgaria tests dead birds for avian flu
11 Oct 2005 10:50:24 GMT
Source: Reuters
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(Adds reaction from EU health commissioner, paras 11,12) SOFIA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Bulgarian authorities said on Tuesday they were testing three birds found dead in the north of the country for avian flu but said so far there were no indications the deadly virus had crossed its borders. The Balkan state of 8 million people has heightened safety controls after its neighbours Turkey and Romania reported suspected cases of bird flu. Authorities said they had discovered three dead birds in different areas of the Pleven region, about 100 km (60 miles) from Bulgaria's Danube river border with Romania, and had sent them to Sofia for tests. "Three birds were found dead in different spots in the Pleven district. There are no cases of bird flu registered so far in the region," Plamen Georgiev, an official at the Pleven regional veterinarian office, told Reuters. "We sent the bodies of the birds to be examined. Results are expected no sooner than a week from now." In Pleven, authorities said their tests were simply a result of stricter controls and that the birds could have died from a variety of causes. "We have directed our actions at examining dead birds, but we have no grounds to assume that this is bird flu, because birds die for many different reasons," said Angel Kunchev, head of the Health Ministry's department of contagious diseases. Romania and Turkey, which border Bulgaria on the Black Sea, reported new cases of the virus on Saturday and began culling thousands of birds to prevent the disease from spreading. Experts there are yet to discover whether the cases were caused by the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus, which has killed millions of birds and 65 people in Asia since 2003. Officials have played down the likelihood. Balkan countries announced bans on poultry imports from Romania and Turkey on Monday. The European Commission banned all imports of live birds and feathers from Turkey. European Union Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said Bulgaria's measures were in line with EU standards. Sofia aims to join the bloc in 2007. "The Bulgarian measures are adequate for the time being," Kyprianou said during a two-day visit to Sofia.
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