Bird flu will soon be worldwide

Reports that bird flu has now been found in a cat in Germany has served to further fuel the panic spreading across Europe regarding the deadly virus.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) says it is highly likely the infection will spread to domestic poultry in other European and neighbouring countries and could be exacerbated by the arrival in Europe infected birds from Africa and the Middle East in spring.

Although scientists believe the case of the German cat does not signify an increased risk to human health, some are suggesting cats be kept indoors in areas affected by the bird flu.

The cat was apparently found on the island of Ruegen near Germany's northern coast where the virus was first discovered in birds earlier this month and raises concern the virus could spread to other species in Europe as it has in other parts of the world.

Tests are being carried out in order to confirm the virus was the deadly strain of H5N1.

It is known that cats can become infected by eating infected birds, and experts are not surprised by the case.

Officials have confirmed that two dead wild ducks found on Sweden's Baltic coast had an aggressive form of bird flu highly likely to be confirmed as the H5N1 strain.

Authorities in Iraq, which has already reported two deaths from bird flu, are checking into three suspected human cases in Baghdad and one in the northeastern province of Dayala.

France, Europe's biggest poultry producer, became the first European Union country to confirm an outbreak on a poultry farm and the poultry industry is feeling the pinch as demand for chicken plummets despite reassurances it is safe to eat.

As many as 20 countries have now banned French poultry.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned the crisis would depress poultry consumption as many countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa have been hit by the avian influenza.

The profitability of the poultry industry worldwide is now threatened.

The H5N1 virus has been detected in around 20 new countries over the past month alone, crossing into Europe and Africa. The virus is endemic in birds across parts of Asia.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says the spread of H5N1 was relentless and he expects it to go across the globe.

It has led to the culling or deaths of some 200 million birds since late 2003.

In poultry flocks it can cause sudden severe disease, rapid contagion and a mortality rate that can approach 100 percent within 48 hours.

To date the virus is known to have killed at least 93 people since late 2003 and it remains essentially an animal disease; humans at present only contract the virus through direct contact with sick or dead poultry.

The ongoing fear is of course that the virus will mutate into a form which passes easily from person to person, triggering a pandemic in which millions could die.

There is the very real fear the virus could spread like wildfire in Africa where chickens live in millions of homes and health, veterinary and laboratory services are impoverished.

Dead chickens which had been dumped on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital Nairobi proved negative for H5N1, but near neighbour Ethiopia has sent samples from 6000 dead poultry to Italy for laboratory checks.

The virus had been found in birds in the West African states of Nigeria and Niger and also in Egypt.

In Nigeria some 300,000 chickens have reportedly died.

Apparently a farm affected by bird flu in northern Nigeria has been raided by villagers, who stole thousands of birds.

As yet there has been no sign of illness in the farm workers.

The Nigerian government is about to start paying compensation to poultry farmers affected by bird flu and are urging people to continue to eat chickens and eggs, as long as they are cooked properly.

In Niger following reports of that the deadly strain of bird flu was confirmed there, consumers are wary of buying poultry.

To date there has apparently been no culling of poultry in the areas where the bird flu was confirmed but some 1,100 dead chickens and ducks have reportedly been incinerated in the two areas where the H5N1 strain was found, both near the border with Nigeria.

As yet no human cases of the H5N1 strain have yet been found in Africa but the UN has warned of a possible regional disaster if the disease continues to spread.

Officials there say the panic is causing more problems than the virus and if it continues economies will be badly affected.

Bernard Vallat, director of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), says confinement measures were not taken in Nigeria and transparency was not applied from the beginning and all of the neighbouring countries of Nigeria are under a very big threat.