Hungary: Possible new case of bird flu, 9,400 goslings culled

Hungarian authorities culled 9,400 goslings in the southeastern part of the country becaus of suspicions of bird flu, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement Monday.

Some of the newly hatched stock on a farm in Derekegyhaz showed symptoms of a damaged nervous system, the ministry said.

Hungarian veterinarians tested the stock and suspected a bacterial infection. But local test results did not confirm that, it said.

"Because of the increased bird flu suspicion the culling of 9,400 geese was ordered," the statement said.

Last week, local laboratories detected the presence of the deadly H5N1 strain and culled some 3,300 geese on a farm in southeastern Hungary.

Testing at Hungarian laboratories will continue. Samples were immediately sent to the official European Union laboratory at Weybridge, England, for further testing, the ministry said.

The ministry said normal preventive measures to avoid the spread of the disease were in place, reports AP.

Hungary's first case of H5N1, detected in February 2006, was found to be carried by wild birds including swans and gray geese, while the deadly virus was first found in domestic poultry in June.

Hungary's recent case of bird flu is the first incidence of the highly pathogenic avian flu within the EU since August 2006.

The last case was in a German zoo when a dead swan tested positive.

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