Croatia culls birds after flu spreads there

ZDENCI, Croatia – Authorities in Croatia began killing thousands of domestic birds Saturday and ordered disinfection for a large area near a national park where six swans were found dead from bird flu.

Elsewhere, Russia reported a new outbreak of a lethal strain of bird flu, Sweden confirmed a case, and Italy and Congo became the latest countries to ban imports of poultry from nations affected by the virus.

Croatian experts detected the H5 virus in the swans late Friday after they were found dead at a fish farm near Zdenci national park. Samples were sent to a British lab to test for the H5N1 strain that has devastated poultry stocks and killed 61 people in Asia the past two years.

The virus is spread by migrating wild birds and has recently been found in birds in Russia, Turkey and Romania, spurring efforts around the globe to contain its spread.

While H5N1 is easily transmitted between birds, it is hard for humans to contract. But experts fear it could mutate into a form of flu that is easily transmitted between humans and cause a pandemic that could kill millions.

As villagers and farmers prepared to cull their flocks, Croatian Minister of Agriculture Petar Cobankovic led a team of health experts Saturday on an inspection of the area around the national park, about 90 miles east of the capital, Zagreb.

“There is no room for panic,” Cobankovic told reporters as a wide zone around where the wild swans died was put under quarantine and cordoned off to be disinfected.

Cobankovic said authorities had complied with European Union measures on banning poultry distribution and ordering free-range birds to be kept indoors. He said most of the domestic poultry in the area would be slaughtered to prevent the possible spread of the disease.