Home>News Center>World
             
     

    Romania culls poultry as EU braces for bird flu
    (Reuters)
    Updated: 2005-10-16 20:04

    Romanian authorities slaughtered more domestic fowl on Sunday after the deadly strain of bird flu was detected in the Danube delta, as officials elsewhere in Europe prepared for a possible pandemic.

    British laboratory tests confirmed on Saturday that the H5N1 strain of the disease had reached mainland Europe for the first time, after it was identified in three ducks found dead in the Romanian Danube delta village of Ceamurlia de Jos.

    Experts fear the H5N1 virus, which has killed more than 60 people and caused the death of millions of birds in Asia since 2003, could mutate and spread easily among humans, creating a pandemic that might kill tens of millions.

    Romanian Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said the outbreak was limited to Ceamurlia and Maliuc, 40 km (25 miles) north. All 18,000 domestic birds in Ceamurlia were killed and culling of Maliuc's less than 3,000 poultry was under way.

    "On a 10-kilometre (six-mile) radius around Ceamurlia de Jos, the tests (for bird flu) are negative," Flutur told reporters.

    The Danube delta, Europe's largest wetlands near the Black Sea, is a major way station for migratory wild birds coming from Russia, Scandinavia, Poland and Germany and heading for warmer North Africa, including the Nile delta, for winter.

    A Romanian health worker sprays dissinfectant in the village of Vulturul, 300km (186 miles) east of Bucharest, Romania Saturday Oct. 15, 2005.
    A Romanian health worker sprays dissinfectant in the village of Vulturul, 300km (186 miles) east of Bucharest, Romania Saturday Oct. 15, 2005. [AP]
    Despite the Romanian assurances, Britain's chief medical officer said on Sunday his country was braced for a pandemic of bird flu that could result in at least 50,000 deaths there.

    The official, Liam Donaldson, echoed previous warnings by saying history suggested the bird flu virus could combine with a human flu virus and become easily transmissible.

    "Once in a while, every 10 to 40 years, the flu virus mutates into a strain which we haven't got natural immunity to," he told BBC TV. He said a normal winter flu kills more than 12,000 people in Britain.

    "If we had a (bird flu) pandemic the problem would be the existing vaccines don't work, we would need a new vaccine and people don't have natural immunity," said Donaldson.

    "So the estimate we are working toward is around 50,000 excess deaths from flu, but it could be a lot higher than that -- it depends on whether the strain is mild or serious."

    No human cases of bird flu have so far been reported from either Romania or Turkey, where H5N1 was also identified in birds last week.

    A Turkish Health Ministry official said on Saturday that nine people under observation in hospital for possible bird flu had been allowed to go home as tests showed they were not infected.

    Page: 12



    Hurricane Wilma batters Florida
    All 117 feared dead in Nigerian plane crash
    Quake relief inadequate, UN says
     
      Today's Top News     Top World News
     

    Anniversary of Taiwan's recovery celebrated

     

       
     

    New bird flu outbreak in China reined in

     

       
     

    Singapore PM: China's growth 'good for Asia'

     

       
     

    US to transfer nuclear reactor tech to China

     

       
     

    Koizumi still hopes for summit with China

     

       
     

    Rails seizure shakes a nation's conscience

     

       
      Draft Constitution adopted by Iraqi voters
       
      Iraqi death toll much higher than US
       
      Bird flu conference defers to WHO for preparedness
       
      Japan extradites two in alleged 9/11 fraud
       
      Gitmo hunger striker wants tube removed
       
      Islamic Jihad leader buried amid violence
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      Related Stories  
       
    US health secretary winds up bird flu trip to Asia
       
    China has a better vaccine for bird flu
       
    Europe grapples with bird flu issue
      News Talk  
      Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
    Advertisement
             
    最近高清中文字幕无吗免费看| 亚洲精品无码专区在线在线播放| 国产成人无码AⅤ片在线观看| 日韩无码系列综合区| 红桃AV一区二区三区在线无码AV| 国偷自产短视频中文版| 久久久久亚洲AV无码网站| 狠狠精品久久久无码中文字幕| 亚洲人成无码www久久久| 潮喷大喷水系列无码久久精品| 曰批全过程免费视频在线观看无码| 中文字幕免费高清视频| 无码人妻一区二区三区在线水卜樱| 无码精品国产VA在线观看 | yy111111电影院少妇影院无码| 久久精品中文无码资源站| 久久久噜噜噜久久中文福利| 日韩经典精品无码一区| 久久99精品久久久久久hb无码| 亚洲韩国精品无码一区二区三区 | 久久无码国产专区精品| 色综合久久精品中文字幕首页| 亚洲人成无码www久久久| 精品无码综合一区| 国产精品多人p群无码| 无码播放一区二区三区| 中文字幕亚洲无线码| 日韩乱码人妻无码中文视频| 中文在线最新版天堂8| 日韩电影免费在线观看中文字幕| 中文字幕精品无码一区二区| 中文字幕VA一区二区三区| 日本乱中文字幕系列| 久久精品亚洲中文字幕无码麻豆| 亚洲AV无码专区在线播放中文| 日本乱中文字幕系列| 最近中文字幕2019高清免费 | 久久久久亚洲AV无码观看| 精品多人p群无码| 亚洲AV无码欧洲AV无码网站| 无码人妻久久一区二区三区免费|