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H5N1 Wild Bird Flu Detected in Bulgaria?
Recombinomics Commentary
October 16, 2005
Bulgaria has stepped up border controls and increased surveillance over poultry farms along the Danube and Black Sea, chief veterinarian Zheko Baichev told Reuters.
"We have made 500 blood tests on farm birds and checked on 154 domestic and 100 wild birds found dead throughout the country. We have not isolated the bird flu virus," he said.
The above comments suggest that H5N1 may have been detected in Bulgaria. Bulgaria is located between Romania and Turkey. Both of its neighbors have reported confirmed H5N1. It seems likely that some or all of the 100 dead wild birds that have been "checked" are H5N1 positive. The report does not indicate that blood tests on the wild birds have been run, nor does it indicate that H5N1 has not been detected, only that H5N1 has not been isolated.
It seems likely that all countries adjacent to the Black Sea will be H5N1 positive (see map). The question is when such isolates will be reported.
Map
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