German bird flu outbreak could be more widespread than first suspected

Veterinary officials in Germany now believe the outbreak of bird flu on a duck farm in southern Germany was more widespread and of longer duration than was first suspected.

In a short period of time more than 400 birds died on the Bavarian farm near Wachenroth in Erlangen-Hoechstadt.

When the birds were destroyed to contain the outbreak an examination revealed that ducks from two other enclosures other than the one where the outbreak was first found had also been infected.

Ottmar Fick, head of the local veterinary authority says it remains unclear whether these birds had also been infected with the H5N1 virus, which is potentially deadly to humans as the virus may have been present for some time on the farm and the symptoms had only become evident in one of the 15 enclosures.

Veterinary experts are still trying to determine where the virus originated from and early reports have suggested it may have been transferred in straw.

Fick says not all waterfowl suffer acute symptoms from the virus, and there is the possibility that the incubation period could extend to weeks.

Whether infected birds have been offered for sale commercially is also unclear and cannot be excluded says Fick.

All 166,000 ducks and ducklings on the farm have now been culled and a protection zone around the farm has been established, and the farm has been sealed off according to EU legislation, while officials investigate the outbreak.