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Britain
targets species, areas in bird flu testing |
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LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's farm ministry on Monday unveiled a new bird flu strategy of testing more intensively in areas and species where an outbreak is most likely to occur. Ducks, geese, swans, gulls and waders are seen as among the species most likely to bring a deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu to Britain, the ministry said. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said it would focus its surveillance and sampling on "areas which have higher numbers of migrating waterfowl and larger poultry populations." |
"We are doing most work in areas where there is a greater likelihood of finding virus but we will continue to be vigilant in checking for avian influenza right across the UK," chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds said. Britain has seen just one case of the deadly H5N1 strain, in a dead swan found at Cellardyke in Scotland in April. The ministry said it had revised its strategy ahead of the autumn migration of water birds.
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The virus has killed 143 people since 2003, mostly in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and China, according to the World Health Organization. About 200 million birds had died or been culled.
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