Poultry Taken Indoors As Germany Confirms Bird Flu

European countries began shutting away their poultry flocks yesterday as Germany and Austria became the latest countries to confirm cases of avian influenza.

German officials said yesterday that two swans found on a beach on the Baltic island of Rügen had died from H5N1, the highly pathogenic avian form of the virus. They are the first cases of bird flu in Germany. Last night Danish officials were carrying out tests on nine dead swans found on a Danish island close to Rügen.

Last night the UN’s World Animal Health Organization (OIE) urged other European countries to strengthen their surveillance of domestic poultry and to keep them clear of wild birds. "It is very possible that we will see other cases. Little can be done about the migratory patterns of wild birds, therefore we emphasize the importance of minimizing the opportunity for domestic birds to come into contact with wild birds," an OIE spokeswoman said in Paris.

Germany’s coalition government introduced a series of emergency measures yesterday to prevent the virus in wild birds from infecting domestic poultry. The agriculture minister, Horst Seehofer, brought forward a ban on keeping poultry outdoors which was originally due to take effect on March 1.

Austria, Sweden and Norway ordered farmers to keep chickens and turkeys indoors, and yesterday the Netherlands and France extended their bans nationally. The Danish veterinary and food administration ordered all flocks of more than 100 birds to be locked up. A restricted zone of nearly two miles was set up around the dead swans found in Austria.

But the British government said it was not expecting the H5N1 virus to cross to Britain immediately. "There is still a low risk of imminent arrival. We are meeting migratory bird experts," said a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The National Farmers Union said yesterday that all poultry breeders were aware the disease had spread further in Europe and would be kept informed of its progress by email. "We are just waiting and asking people to be vigilant," said a spokeswoman.

With thousands of birds due to migrate over the next few weeks, other experts warned that its spread throughout Europe was unavoidable. "If you look, the disease has spread from south-east Asia to Russia and Turkey. It was inevitable it would come to Germany. It might come to England at some time," Professor Michael Schmidt, a virologist at Berlin’s Free University, said.

The deadly strain of bird flu has so far killed 91 people in Asia, the Middle East and Turkey.