Two domestic chickens in eastern Germany have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, AP quoted regional authorities as saying Saturday. The birds were kept with nine other chickens in the Oberhavel region, northwest of Berlin, Brandenburg state's Agriculture Ministry said. After several of the birds died, the remains of two of them were sent for testing on Friday. A federal lab confirmed that they were infected with the H5N1 strain, the ministry said. The remaining birds were slaughtered, and poultry kept within a three-kilometer (two-mile) radius was being checked for the virus. An outbreak of the disease at a poultry farm in Bavaria in August led to the slaughter of 160,000 birds. The previous month, the virus was detected in a domestic goose in the east of the country, and several cases have surfaced among wild birds this year. The disease has ravaged poultry stocks in Asia, and scientists believe it spread to Europe and to Africa with migratory wild birds. Though bird flu is difficult for people to catch, it has killed at least 206 people worldwide. Experts believe most victims were probably infected through direct contact with sick birds.
