Bird flu discovered in dead Swedish swans
Xinhua, March 21, 2015 Adjust font size:
Bird flu has been discovered in dead swans here, the Swedish Board of Agriculture said Friday.
Two dead swans found in the Swedish capital apparently carried the virus, an examination by the State Veterinary Medical Board showed. However, the examination found the birds died of other causes and not from bird flu.
"We discovered it during a regular random sample test of dead birds that are carried out routinely," Ingrid Eilertz, head of the agriculture board's department of animal protection and health, told newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
The H5N8 virus is of the same strain found in birds in several European countries in the past few months, including Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Italy. Bird flu is highly contagious among birds, particularly seafowl, but H5N8 has not been found in humans.
Swedish authorities will not take any measures following the two confirmed cases of bird flu. However, the agriculture board has urged those who keep birds outside to be careful not to attract wild birds. Endit