Bird flu discovered in dead eagle on Zealand

Food and Environment Ministry not overly concerned

The national veterinary institute, DTU Vet, has revealed it has discovered bird flu in a dead white-tailed eagle found near Slagelse in Zealand.

According to the Food and Environment Ministry, the bird flu type is most likely H5H6, which is highly deadly to birds. There’s no need for the public to be overly alarmed, said the ministry.

“Firstly, birds of prey are the most sensitive to getting bird flu because they eat other birds, dead and alive,” John Larsen, a spokesperson for the ministry, said according to BT Tabloid.

“Secondly, we’ve known this type of bird flu for over a year from cases in other countries like South Korea. And it hasn’t been a problem for humans.”

READ MORE: Bird flu hits first Danish poultry farm

Fødevarestyrelsen monitoring
For now, the discovery won’t lead to more stringent protocol for fowl farmers, but that could change should more contaminated birds be found, such as in late 2016.

According to Larsen, it’s the first instance of bird flu discovered in a wild bird in Denmark since April 2017. And there hasn’t been a bird flu case among kept Danish birds since February 2017.

Bird flu gained great notoriety in 2005-06 when the H5H1 variety spread from Asia across Europe. The flu spread to human as well and caused hundreds of deaths.

The Danish veterinary and food administration, Fødevarestyrelsen, is constantly monitoring the situation in Denmark and also receives notifications from the situation abroad.

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