Fresh Outbreak of H5N1 Bird Flu in Germany

After a brief lull, H5N1 strain of bird flu is back in Germany. Health officials from the southern German city of Nuremberg confirmed late Sunday that eight dead birds discovered near two lakes in southern Germany were infected with the highly pathogenic bird flu virus H5N1.

The bird flu virus had been discovered in the bodies of eight dead birds, the veterinary experts confirmed after examining the corpses of dead water-birds at the country’s top veterinary laboratory, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, on the island of Riems, marking the first cases of bird flu in Germany this year.

Among the dead birds found in two lakes in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg were swans, a duck and a goose, the city of Nuremberg said in a statement.

“Over the next few days the city of Nuremberg will be supported by a federal epidemiological team which will scientifically investigate the causes and background of the infection cases,” the statement said.

After receiving the confirmation from the veterinary experts, the find was immediately notified to the European Commission.

According to the European Union executive, German authorities had informed Brussels that laboratory tests carried out on dead water-birds at the regional laboratory in Bavaria had confirmed the lethal strain in the wild animals.

About 13 European Union member states, including Germany, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Britain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, France and Hungary, last year, had confirmed cases of H5N1 bird flu virus.

“Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 was detected in more than 700 wild birds in the EU in 2006,” the Commission said in a statement.

On Saturday, Nuremberg city authorities posted caution signs around two Bavarian lakes where the wild swans, geese and ducks were found over the past few days. They also set up a four-kilometres exclusion zone around two lakes after the dead birds tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Health authorities urged the poultry farmers in the exclusion zone to keep their animals indoors. City officials warned pet owners not to let their dogs or cats roam free in the affected area, called quarantine zone.

Nuremberg is located 120 kilometres from the border with the Czech Republic, where an outbreak of bird flu was reported earlier this month. Czech veterinarians started culling several thousand turkeys at the farm in the village of Tisova in the country's east last week after tests confirmed the country’s first outbreak of a deadly form of bird flu in poultry.

Germany has come under the dark wings of bird flu once again after 2005, when it broke out on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen and spread to six of the country's 16 states. The strain of extremely infectious H5N1 virus spread to mammals, killing a cat and a stone marten, however, it did not affect humans.

Bird flu in south-east Asia is spreading like wild fire, killing two people in Vietnam this month, bringing the death toll to 43 in the country, since 2003.

So far, Bird flu virus has killed 191 people out of the 313 cases reported, according to the World Health Organization. As of May 31st, 2007, the highest number of cases has been reported in Indonesia, where out of the 98 infected, 78 lost their lives.

Most human infections have occurred after contact with birds infected with H5N1 virus, which according to the Geneva-based WHO is generally not harmful to humans. The H5N1 virus though remains primarily a virus of birds, but experts fright that once it starts transmitting from person to person, it would sweep the world, leaving millions more to die and triggering a devastating human pandemic.

H5N1, also known as A(H5N1), is a subtype of the Influenza A virus that is capable of causing illness in many animal species, including humans, while a bird-adapted strain of H5N1, called HPAI A(H5N1) for "highly pathogenic avian influenza virus of type A of subtype H5N1", is the causative agent of H5N1 flu, commonly known as "avian influenza" or simply "bird flu", and is endemic in many bird populations, especially in Southeast Asia.

Ever since bird flu broke out and started spreading its notorious wings all over the globe, various measures have been taken by all the countries to protect their population.

100% deaths have been reported in Cambodia, Laos and Nigeria. The condition has improved in all the countries ever since the first case was reported in PR China. In 2003, 100% deaths were reported, but the percentage has gradually lowered down to 70%, 43%, 69% and 63% in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively, bringing down the total aggregate to 61%.

WHO, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in collaboration with United States are looking into minimizing the risk of spreading of this disease and taking steps to avoid this to turn into a pandemic on a global level.