Is the bird flu in France? 4,000 chickens died

Tests are being carried out to find out why 4,000 chickens suddenly died Saturday on a farm in northeastern France. The rest of the poultry appeared completely healthy, so officials are skeptical it’s the bird flu.

The farm owner was quoted as saying he was “99 percent certain it is not bird flu”. Autopsy and clinical results didn’t point to bird flu, but full reports won’t be in until Tuesday. So we’ll wait for further notice, and do hope it’s not H5N1. The last outbreak in February had more than 11,000 turkeys dying or slaughtered, and caused panic across the EU.

[Source: Reuters AlertNet]

Tags: France, H5N1, bird flu, chickens, poultry