Three wild birds in Germany have died of the feared H5N1 strain of bird flu, a health official in Nuremberg in southern Germany said on Sunday. Katja Guenther told AFP tests carried out by the Friedrich Loeffler Institute confirmed that two swans and a duck suffered from the H5N1 strain of the virus. She said tests were being conducted on another seven birds who died of bird flue to see whether they too had been carriers of H5N1, which is potentially lethal for humans.
The dead wild birds who were infected with the virus were found near Nuremberg in the past week.
Guenther said local authorities had cordoned off an area with a four-kilometre (2.5-mile) radius from the place where the sick birds were found.
Nobody will be allowed to bring birds into the area or take them from there for the next three weeks, and poultry in the area must be kept indoors for the same period.
H5N1 was found on a poultry farm in the Czech Republic last week, prompting the slaughter of some 6,000 turkeys.
Germany battled a bird flu epidemic last year. It broke out on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen and spread to six of the country's 16 states.
The disease spread to mammals, killing a cat and a stone marten, but did not affect humans.
Source: Agence France-Presse
