Apparently the "H5 subtype of bird flu was found in a dead wild duck in France, and officials said it was almost certainly the lethal H5N1 strain" (Canadian Press, Feb 18 2006)... to bring some light and perhaps the next famous conspiracy theory, I would like to propose that Big Bird, that giant evil yellow bird from Seaseme Street is behind it... something just screams "BIG BIRD DID IT!"... occassionally they try to teach kids some french words, or at least to count to ten.... ergo, Big Bird sent the bird flu to France... I have yet to work out all of the kinks in this theory, but I think that giant fucking yellow bird is behind it all...
France Reports First Case of H5 Bird Flu
Lethal H5N1 suspected, Canadian Press
Published: Saturday, February 18, 2006
PARIS -- The H5 subtype of bird flu was found in a dead wild duck in France, and officials said it was almost certainly the lethal H5N1 strain.
If confirmed as H5N1, it would be France's first case of the disease that has swept from Asia to Europe and Africa, and raised fears of a worldwide flu pandemic if it mutates into a form that is easily transmitted between humans.
Agriculture Minister Dominique Bussereau, speaking to reporters Saturday, said final test results to confirm whether the duck found in the southeastern Ain region was infected by H5N1 were expected at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
President Jacques Chirac, speaking to reporters during a trip to Thailand, called for a calm but serious approach to the bird flu case.
France, the European Union's leading poultry producer, is already on alert to try to ensure that avian flu does not spread from the wild, where the disease is not unusual, to its 200,000 farms that raise 900 million chickens, turkeys, ducks and other birds each year.
The speed of the announcement that the duck had died of H5 - just a few days after the duck was found - was seen as a measure of the effectiveness of French surveillance and testing procedures.
''French authorities should be encouraged for reporting this so quickly and this allows them, as well as local farmers, to take extra monitoring precautions,'' Alex Thiermann, an expert for the World Organization for Animal Health in Paris, said in a telephone interview.
The suspected case of H5N1 was reported two days after France announced new anti-bird flu measures, ordering all poultry to be either vaccinated or confined indoors.
Bussereau said some 900,000 birds in France would be vaccinated.
In line with new EU anti-bird flu measures adopted Friday by the European Commission, a three-kilometre protection zone was in force around the spot where the duck was found in a bird reserve on the Dombes plateau, some 30 kilometres northeast of Lyon, France's third-largest city.
Veterinarians were checking poultry in the zone, while the movement of live poultry to and from the area was banned and wild birds were being watched more closely, the ministry said.
The Dombes plateau has about 1,000 lakes and is a favored stop-off for migrating birds.
The diseased bird was one of seven dead ducks found on a lake last weekend and handed over to a laboratory on Monday, Catherine Dupuis, the local director of veterinary services, told the AP.
© Canadian Press 2006
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