Monday, March 20, 2006

Israel Confirms Bird Flu Case

From the AP
JERUSALEM - Israel on Monday confirmed its first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. In a statement on its Web site, the Agriculture Ministry said the flu had been found in birds at two communal farms in southern Israel and at a farming community in central Israel.
Fearing the worst, Israel had gone ahead Saturday with the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of chickens and turkeys.

The H5N1 virus has killed or forced the slaughter of tens of millions of chickens and ducks across Asia since 2003, and recently spread to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.