posted on Oct, 13 2005 @ 02:42 PM
We well might find out now since they have backtracked and now admit that H5N1 is in their country.
Romania Hit by Bird Flu, Triggering EU Poultry Curbs (Update7)
Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Bird flu struck Romania on the eastern border of the European Union, raising concern that the virus that's killed 60 people in
Asia is spreading across Europe.
EU regulators imposed an immediate six-month ban on imports of poultry and live birds from Romania after tests linked the deaths of 40 ducks and a
chicken to the disease, the European Commission said today. The move comes a day after EU officials said bird-flu tests appeared to be negative,
indicating that the deadly virus wasn't poised to spread into the 25-nation bloc.
``It will be difficult to avoid further spreading of this,'' said Marc Van Ranst, a virologist at the University of Leuven, near Brussels. ``It's
another wake-up call to us.''
Originating in southeast Asia, the disease has moved through China and Russia, resulting in the slaughter of more than 140 million birds and stoking
fears about a worldwide flu outbreak.
Tests today revealed that bird flu virus found recently in Turkey is the H5N1 strain that was responsible for the human deaths in Asia, EU Health
Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said. The EU on Oct. 10 extended a ban on Turkish live birds and poultry products. The Turkish test results indicate ``a
direct relationship with viruses recently found in Russia, Mongolia and China,'' Kyprianou told a Brussels news conference....Snip
www.bloomberg.com...#