A Highly Infectious Bird Flu Strain Reported in Italy

A highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu strain has been reported at a turkey farm in northern Italy. The outbreak was 'ascertained' by local health authorities at a farm which is located near the city of Rovigo in Veneto region.The virus is known to have strong similarities with the outbreaks registered in other European countries in the last few weeks. According to local media reports, more than 1,200 birds were found dead at the turkey farm.This prompted authorities to apply control measures in the restriction zones and give orders to cull about 32,000 birds. In November, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) warned of a new bird flu strain detected in Germany, the Netherlands and Britain which was similar to the strains found to be circulating in Asia earlier this year.Experts suggests that wild birds may have played a role in spreading this virus. In India, nearly 2.60 lakh ducks have been culled since November after the outbreak of another bird flu strain, H5NI, affected three districts of Kerala. Recently, there have also been reports about a bird flu scare in Chandigarh where a sample of a duck found dead at the famous Sukhna lake tested positive for the H5N1 (avian flu) virus.