France vaccinates poultry Bird flu spreads across globe

France began vaccinating thousands of geese and ducks against avian flu yesterday while Niger became the second West African country to be hit by a virus which is spreading among birds at unprecedented speed.

Domestic ducks from Niger tested positive for the H5N1 virus. Neighbouring Nigeria has already been hit by bird flu in poultry and yesterday reported outbreaks in birds in another two states.

The Black Sea state of Georgia said it had found the H5N1 strain in wild swans as the virus, which is endemic in birds in parts of Asia, extends its sweep across the globe.

In the Balkans, Bosnia said tests had confirmed its first case of H5N1 in two swans. As many as 19 new countries have reported outbreaks in birds over the past month.

Ilaria Capua, a top European expert on avian influenza with the World Animal Health Organisation, the OIE, said the spread of the virus to the wild bird population has meant the situation in Europe was now akin "to living under machine-gun fire".

"And the spring migration from Africa will make us even more exposed," she said.

"This is the first time in history that it (bird flu) has been widespread in wild birds," she added.

The virus has killed 93 people in Asia and the Middle East since late 2003, according to figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO). It remains essentially an animal disease which humans contract only through close contact with infected birds.

However, there are fears the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic in which millions could die.

France launched the vaccination campaign in the department of the Landes, in the southwest of the country, one of the areas at risk from the spread of the virus by migratory birds.

French Trade Minister Christine Lagarde said 20 countries had imposed curbs on imports of French poultry after an outbreak of bird flu at a turkey farm in the east of the country.

Officials said the 20 countries, including Morocco, Egypt, Thailand and South Korea, and represented just five percent of French poultry exports. Japan and Hong Kong have already announced bans.

France's total poultry exports outside the European Union were worth €400 million a year, the officials said. France is Europe's biggest poultry producer and the industry overall is worth six billion euros per year. The WHO stressed again yesterday that properly cooked poultry does not spread bird flu in a move to reassure consumers and stem a slide in sales.