Bird Flu moves into Eastern Europe

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania has found suspected bird flu in hens in another village 100 km (60 miles) east of Bucharest, where an outbreak was detected last week, officials said on Monday. The H5 type of the virus was confirmed last week in two villages in Ialomita county, indicating the avian disease could be spreading toward the capital. Since October, the Balkan country has found avian flu in 21 villages in and around the Danube delta where the deadly strain of the virus was first discovered 300 km from Bucharest. Nine cases have been confirmed as the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain. But the disease has not appeared close to large cities and officials have said it was unlikely to break out there. "Preliminary tests taken from several hens in the village of Traian show suspicion for the H5 type, but the virus hasn't been isolated yet," Nicolae Stefan, head of the Animal Health and Diagnosis Institute, told Reuters. He said the village will be quarantined and all domestic fowl would be destroyed as a precaution. H5N1 is endemic in poultry in parts of Asia where it has killed more than 70 people since late 2003. Experts say a flu pandemic among humans could kill millions around the globe and cause massive economic losses. Last week Romania, which has not registered any cases of bird flu in humans, warned that migratory birds possibly carrying the virus were heading toward the country' southern neighbor Bulgaria. The virus remains hard for people to catch, but there are fears it could mutate into a form easily transmissible among humans. There have been no cases in people outside of Asia.