Its Baaack!

The Agricultural Ministry last Wednesday confirmed that the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has once more been discovered in Hungary, the first time the disease has been detected in the European Union since August 2006. The virus broke out on a goose farm in Csongrád County, southeast Hungary, earlier in the week. Around 40 birds fell sick or died and samples from the deceased animals were brought to Budapest for testing.

“The laboratory has detected the highly-pathogenic H5 virus, and according to tests so far it looks like the N1 strain,” the ministry said in statement.
Samples have been sent to the EU’s official laboratory in Weybridge, England, for further tests and the EU has been officially informed of the situation.
All of the 3,300 geese on the farm have been culled since the new outbreak was discovered and a 3km protective zone – with police roadblocks checking cars – and a 10km surveillance zone have been established around the farm.
The ministry said that the measures brought into place so far were satisfactory, and that further restrictions or culls would not be necessary. The European Commission said it was also satisfied by the measures and that there was no “immediate threat” to Hungarian poultry or exports.
However, neighbouring Croatia and Serbia appeared not to be calmed by the preventative measures, and last Wednesday they froze all poultry imports from Hungary as a precautionary measure. The poultry industry suffered a serious drop in sales during the last bird flu scare, and a further prolonged outbreak could cause more damage.
Hungary’s problems were further compounded by the news that Japan had banned the import of Hungarian pork after swine fever was discovered in three wild boars in North Hungary. The CEO of Pick Szeged, László Kovács, said that Japan was one of Hungary’s key export markets, and that a ban on Hungarian pork exports could cause a major crisis in the industry.
Hungary saw its first cases of bird flu in February 2006, when it cropped up amongst wild birds. The disease spread to domestic poultry, and hundreds of thousands of birds were culled. All protective measures were cancelled in August last year when no more cases were reported. The last reported case of bird flu in the EU was uncovered in a wild bird in Germany in August 2006, but there have been continued cases across Asia.
According to the latest figures released by the World Health Organization, the H5N1 strain has claimed the lives of 163 people. Experts fear the disease could mutate and cause a global pandemic that would wipe out hundreds of millions of people.
Michael Logan