The number of wild fowl killed by bird flu is thus raised to 24. The H5 virus has been diagnosed on 5 ducks found lifeless in the cantons of Zurich and Thurgovie. Since last February, a total of 750 birds have been examined in Switzerland. In French-speaking Switzerland, a large portion of the canton of Vaud is under surveillance because a duck was killed by H5N1 in Divonne-les-Bains in neighboring France. The Federal Veterinary Office explained on Wednesday that the Swiss ’national reference’ laboratory, which cannot differentiate the H5N1 from other H5 strains, had recently analyzed 61 new samples and discovered the 5 new cases of H5. Switzerland is incapable of identifying the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain and has to send its samples to the UK for testing. Swiss authorities continue to highlight that no poultry farms have been infected in this country, so far.

<< Geneva News Archive