The deadly H5N1 strain of the bird-flu virus has been detected in eight European Union countries since it first appeared in the union on February 11, 2006, DPA reported. The first H5N1 case was found in Italy, and in France the first infection of domestic poultry was confirmed on February 25. GERMANY: On February 14, the bird-flu virus was confirmed in deceased swans on the Baltic island of Ruegen. The H5N1 virus reached the mainland in eastern and northern parts of West Pommerania on February 19, and the Baltic coast of Mecklenburg on February 23. Bird flu was reported in Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Wuerttemberg on February 24. By February 25, the pathogen was confirmed in more than 110 animals. FRANCE: On February 18, the French Food Safety Agency's (AFSSA) laboratory confirmed the virus in a wild duck that had been found dead in the eastern department of Ain. France reported the first case of bird flu in domestic poultry on a breeding farm on February 25. H5N1 was detected in deceased turkeys. More than 400 of the 11,000 animals kept indoors died from the disease at the facility in Versailleux. Five employees at the affected facility were being treated by doctors as a preventative measure. --More 22 42 Local Time 19 42 GMT
