Lithuania hit by first ever outbreak of bird flu

The first case of bird flu or avian influenza has been identified in Lithuania, the country's State Food and Veterinary Service (VMVT) announced on Tuesday.

According to the authority, it was confirmed on Monday that six dead swans found in Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas were infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N8. It is the first time in Lithuania's history that a case of this kind of virus has been recorded, VMVT said in the press release.

Dead swans were found in the country's largest Nemunas river. As the weather is getting warmer, the risk of virus spread increases due to migration of birds, VMVT underlined. The authority is collecting all species found dead in the wildlife for testing.

While H5N8 virus might be fatally dangerous for birds, it does not affect humans, VMVT said.

The authority warned poultry keepers to stay alert and strictly observe safety requirements introduced by VMVT in order to protect their birds from a highly-infectious strain of avian flu.

"The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N8 is already in Lithuania, it is likely that this will not be the only case; it is extremely important to protect poultry farms as in case of virus outbreaks in these places economic losses might be enormous," Marius Masiulis, a spokesperson for VMVT, said.

VMVT informed earlier that the situation in relation to avian influenza remains tense both in Europe and Asia. New outbreaks of this disease in poultry keeping places and in wild birds are further recorded in these regions. Endit