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H5 Confirmed in Greece
Recombinomics Commentary
February 9, 2006
Greece said on Thursday it found samples of the H5 bird flu virus in three swans in northern areas of the country which borders with Turkey.
the three birds, found in separate areas near the northern Greek cities of Thessaloniki and Katerini, were expected to be reported in 2 to 8 days.
The above comments suggest H5N1 has been detected in Greece for the first time. The timing and locations of the positive swans suggests the detection is related to similar results in Bulgaria and Romania. Romania reported H5N1 in swans in October and H5N1 has been isolated from swans in Mongolia, Askatran and reported in Croatia. All of the reported H5N1 in swans has been of the Qinghai strain.
Cold weather may be moving this birds south from Romania into Bulgaria and Greece (see map). These reports suggest H5N1 may also be present in the neighboring countries of Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro.
Map
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