New outbreak of bird flu confirmed in Romania
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-22 11:17

A new outbreak of bird flu was detected in the southeastern Romanian village of Chichinetu on Tuesday, the 19th case since the epidemic first broke out in the country in October, its official radio station reported on Wednesday.

"The laboratory in Bucharest (Romania's capital) on Tuesday confirmed the presence of the H5 virus in poultry in Chichinetu, with dozens of fowl affected," Chief of the Veterinary Health Bureau Gabriel Predoi told the radio.

A Romanian health worker tries to capture a domestic bird in Marsilieni, Romania, 130 kilometres east of Bucharest after bird flu related bird deaths occured in the village.[AFP/file]

Local government officials have been slaughtering all poultry from the village and have set in place decontamination measures throughout the area. Precautionary measures have also been taken in Bucharest, however, the risk of the epidemic spreading is still high, health authority official Teodora Ciolompea warned.

Five of Romania's 41 counties have been hit by bird flu, including Ialomita which is only 70 to 80 km away from Bucharest.

More than 100,000 head of poultry have been slaughtered in Romania since the first case was discovered on October 7.

Most of the cases in Romania were detected in the Danube river delta to the east, located on a major migration path of wild birds. Predoi suggested local farmers should raise poultry indoors instead of in the wild, to reduce the risk of being affected by the deadly virus.