November 28 (SeeNews) - Romania's sanitary, veterinary and food safety board (ANSV) confirmed on Wednesday a case of the highly pahtogenic H5N1 avian influenza strain was discovered in the southeastern county of Tulcea, in the Danube River delta.
The disease was detected following a high level of mortality in a backyard flock and the Romanian National Reference Laboratory confirmed last night that it was the H5N1 virus, ANSV said in a statement.
Samples have also been sent to the community reference laboratory in Weybridge for further testing. All remaining birds on the affected holding, 56 hens and 16 ducks, have been culled.
The Romanian authorities have informed the European Commission, which said in a separate statement it would adopt later today an emergency decision defining the risk zones and the buffer area around them.
In July last year Romania managed to contain avian flu outbreaks in more than 30 locations in its southern counties. Romania and the World Bank launched in May this year a 37.5 million euro ($55 million) project on bird flu control and human pandemic preparedness and response in the EU newcomer. Romania joined the EU in January.
The highly pahtogenic H5N1 avian influenza strain has so far killed 206 of the 335 people that have been infected worldwide, data of the World Health Organization showed. Romania has reported no cases of the disease in humans so far.
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