Belgium raises bird flu alert
2004-10-24 10:53
Brussels - Belgian authorities on Sunday appealed to a Thai man who smuggled two bird flu-infected Asian eagles into Brussels airport to make contact, and urged passengers who took the same flights to seek medical help.
Anxious to prevent a European outbreak of the deadly virus, the public health ministry said it was trying to find the Thai man following confirmation Saturday that the two Mountain Hawk Eagles were infected with avian influenza.
The bird flu virus has hit six Asian nations killing at least 30 people so far.
The man was apprehended by Belgian customs officers when the eagles were discovered in his bags last Monday, live and wrapped up in plastic tubing. But he was apparently then released.
The public health ministry said travellers on the man's flights should see their doctors as a precaution. He took EVA Airways flight BR0061 from Bangkok to Vienna arriving early Monday, and then Austrian Airlines flight OS351 to Brussels.
Despite the appeal to other passengers, health experts played down the wider risk of infection as the eagles never left the airport environs. But the Thai man himself could be at risk, they warn.
Customs officers and scientists who came into contact with the birds of prey are being given preventive anti-viral treatment, news reports said.
The eagles have been destroyed, as have two parrots that were being kept at the same quarantine centre, the Belga news agency said.
- AFP