Bird flu fears for pets

Berlin - Germany on Wednesday ordered that cats be kept indoors and dogs on leashes in bird flu-hit areas in five states, after a dead cat was found to have the feared H5N1 strain of the virus.

The government said the order would immediately take effect in a 3km radius of all areas where wild birds infected with the virus have been found.

"Those states in which H5N1 has been found in wild birds, should enforce these measures immediately," the government's bird flu crisis team said in a statement after meeting in Berlin.

The H5N1 virus was first detected in Germany in mid-February among wild swans on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Since then it has spread to two other states in the north, as well as the country's two southernmost provinces, Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Bird flu has also been found around Berlin.

On Wednesday, Germany's leading centre for disease control said it was almost certain that a dead cat found on Ruegen had carried the highly pathogenic form of H5N1 which can kill humans.

The final test results on the cat were expected later on Wednesday.

The feline is the first mammal in the European Union in which H5N1 has been detected, but experts have said it is still unclear whether this created a greater risk of infection for humans.

- AFP