Dead duck ignites French fears as bird flu spreads

France appears to be the latest European country affected by the the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

A wild duck, which was found dead last week near the central-eastern town of Joyeux, yesterday proved positive for the H5 strain and "bore strong similarities to the H5N1 Asian influenza", the French agriculture ministry said.

Samples from the dead bird have been sent to the EU's Reference Laboratory for avian influenza in Weybridge, England for further tests, but officials expect the worst.

The Netherlands has joined France in putting forward plans to vaccinate poultry, with officials considering proposals to inoculate up to six million birds. However, scientists are divided over the effectiveness of vaccination and officials worry that other countries might use inoculation as a pretext to ban European poultry imports.

The H5N1 virus has spread from Asia to Europe and Africa, infecting 169 people and killing at least 91. So far, there is no evidence of the disease being transmitted from human to human, but scientists fear a pandemic will result if that happens.

The immediate concern, however, is to stop the virus spreading from wild birds to poultry. In 2003 a different strain of bird flu led to 30 million animals being culled in the Netherlands.

France has installed a high-security zone of 3km around the place where the infected duck was discovered.

The H5N1 virus has already been found in Greece, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Germany. Earlier this week, France extended its ban on keeping poultry outside to the whole of the country. The Government intends to have 14 million human vaccination kits ready by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation confirmed that an Iraqi who died in January was the country's second human bird flu victim. Officials said it had infected chickens in Egypt for the first time, while Azerbaijan and Slovenia reported more cases.

- INDEPENDENT