H5N8 New bird flu case in Germany

H5N8: New bird flu case in Germany

01/27/2015

In a house duck in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern experts have now detected the bird flu virus H5N8. The animal came from a small farm near Anklam, where the highly infectious pathogen was also detected a few days ago.

Bird flu virus detected in domestic duck
As the news agency dpa reports, there is another bird flu case in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. According to experts, the highly infectious pathogen H5N8 was detected in a domestic duck. And only about 1.4 kilometers away from the enclosure in the Anklam City Park, where the virus was detected last week. The duck belonged with another 35 chickens to a private miniature farming, said the Ministry of Agriculture in Schwerin on Monday. According to the information, all animals had been killed.

First evidence of the pathogen in Europe comes from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
In addition, the responsible Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) on the Baltic island of Riems on January 8 confirmed the H5N8 virus in a white stork in the Rostock Zoo and then on other birds in the zoo. The zoo had therefore been temporarily closed. Also, the first detection of the virus subtype H5N8 in Europe comes from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The pathogen was detected on 5 November 2014 in a turkey herd with around 31,000 animals in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald.

Virus subtype previously circulated in East Asia
The subtype, which previously only circulated in East Asia, subsequently emerged in several federal states, including the Netherlands and Great Britain. It is still not clear whether the pathogen has come to Europe via wild birds or the feed and poultry trade. In humans, the virus has not been identified. However, other types of viruses, such as H7N9, can be proven to be dangerous to humans. So one is currently worried in China about bird flu outbreak. There H7N9 circulated in different regions, there were several deaths. Often an infection is not recognized because bird flu symptoms are similar to the symptoms of conventional flu. Among other things, those affected may experience fever, cough, sore throat, diarrhea or abdominal pain. (Ad)

Image: Clarissa Black