Bird With H5N1 Virus Found in Bulgaria

[steven johnson]

This is bad stuff. Avian flu has a 10% fatality rate in humans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mortality_from_H5N1

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 1, 2010

Filed at 12:04 p.m. ET

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) -- A dead bird found near Bulgaria's Black Sea port of Varna has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 virus, officials said Thursday. The 1918 flu pandemic only had a 2.5% mortality and the official World Health Organization estimate for the current outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza to date is around 60%.

The Agriculture Ministry said the tests on a common buzzard were conducted at the national veterinary.

No other cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza were detected in Bulgaria, but farmers were alerted to the risks of transmission by migratory and wild birds.

Two weeks ago, a bird flu outbreak was found at a backyard poultry farm in a village in neighboring Romania, and all its birds were killed.

Bird With H5N1 Virus Found in Bulgaria