Romanian authorities slaughtered poultry and sent in doctors today after the deadly strain of bird flu was confirmed in the Danube delta, as officials elsewhere in Europe prepared for a possible pandemic.
British laboratory tests showed yesterday that the H5N1 strain of the disease had reached mainland Europe for the first time, identifying it in three ducks found dead in the Romanian village of Ceamurlia de Jos.
Experts fear the H5N1 virus, which has killed more than 60 people and caused the death of millions of birds in Asia since 2003, could mutate and spread easily among humans, creating a pandemic that might kill tens of millions of people.
Romanian Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said the outbreak was limited to Ceamurlia and Maliuc, 40 km (25 miles) north. All 18,000 domestic birds in Ceamurlia were killed and culling of Maliuc's less than 3,000 poultry was under way.
Officials stepped up public health precautions even though no human cases of bird flu have so far been reported from Romania or from Turkey, which also confirmed H5N1 among domestic fowl last week.
"We have sent more doctors to the contaminated areas, and they will go from house to house to see how many people face the risk of being infected with the virus," Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu told a news conference.
The Danube delta, Europe's largest wetlands near the Black Sea, is a major way station for migratory wild birds heading from Russia, Scandinavia, Poland and Germany towards warmer winter climes in North Africa.