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Spain confirms first H5N1 case
07/07/2006 21:17 - (SA)
Madrid - Spain has recorded its first case of H5N1 bird flu, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.
The strain was found in a wild bird in a marsh area outside the northern city of Vitoria, the ministry said.
The version of the H5N1 strain found in this case is highly powerful, it said.
A protective area of three kilometres has been declared outside the area where the bird, known as a great crested grebe, was discovered.
Spanish officials said late last year as bird flu spread to several European countries that it was only a matter of time before the disease made it to their country, which is on the route of northern-bound migratory birds from Africa.
Preventive measures taken so far had included banning outdoor poultry farming within a 10km radius of certain marshlands, where migratory birds tend to gather.
Bird flu has killed at least 131 people worldwide since it started ravaging Asian poultry in late 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.
Most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds, but experts fear the virus could transform into a form that makes it more easily transmissible among humans.
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