40 Countries Have Had Bird Flu H5N1, See The List

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Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Also Included In: Veterinary;  Public Health
Article Date: 06 Mar 2006 - 15:00 PDT

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Bird flu started to establish itself in south east Asia in 2003, firstly in Vietnam. It then spread to some of its neighbours. Over the last few months the H5N1 bird flu virus strain has been spreading at a much faster speed. It has now reached Western Europe (France) and West Africa (Nigeria, Niger).

Here is the list of countries that have reported cases of bird flu infection since 2003:

-- Austria
-- Azerbaijan
-- Bosnia and Herzegovina
-- Bulgaria
-- Cambodia (human cases confirmed)
-- China (human cases confirmed)
-- Croatia
-- Cyprus
-- Egypt
-- France
-- Germany
-- Greece
-- Hungary
-- India
-- Indonesia (human cases confirmed)
-- Iran
-- Iraq (human cases confirmed)
-- Italy
-- Japan
-- Kazakhstan
-- Kuwait
-- Laos
-- Malaysia
-- Mongolia
-- Niger
-- Nigeria
-- Poland
-- Pakistan
-- Romania
-- Russia
-- Serbia and Montenegro
-- Slovakia
-- Slovenia
-- South Korea
-- Sweden
-- Switzerland
-- Thailand (human cases confirmed)
-- Turkey (human cases confirmed)
-- Ukraine
-- Vietnam (human cases confirmed)

On 28th February there were 35 countries on our list. That is an increase of 5 in just one week.

There are countries that perhaps have infected birds but don't like to let people know. North Korea is surrounded by countries which have confirmed cases of bird flu - however, there are no reports of infection from North Korea. Is North Korea free of bird flu? Who knows?

(This H5N1 virus itself was first detected in Hong Kong, in 1997)

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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