Deadly bird flu found in German duck

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in a wild duck found dead in southern Germany near the Swiss border, officials said on Saturday.

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in a wild duck found dead in southern Germany near the Swiss border, officials said on Saturday.

HT Image

The bird was found beside Lake Constance at the town of Uberlingen, according to the agriculture minister of Bade-Wurtemberg state, Peter Hauk.

Officials had earlier announced the duck had H5N1 but had not confirmed whether it was the highly pathogenic strain.

This is the first time that southern Germany has been hit by the virus, which has already been found in more than 100 wild birds along the Baltic Sea in the north.

Eight nations in the European Union have reported cases of the most dangerous strain of H5N1. They are Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia.