German authorities on Saturday confirmed a second case of the H5N8 strain of bird flu in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, with the virus found in a wild bird.
The strain is highly contagious among birds but has never been detected in humans.
‘For the first time, the H5N8 virus has been confirmed in a wild bird in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,’ Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt said in a statement.
‘With that the suspicion is strengthened that wild birds are connected with the cases in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as in the Netherlands and Britain,’ the minister said.
The strain is highly contagious among birds but has never been detected in humans.
‘For the first time, the H5N8 virus has been confirmed in a wild bird in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,’ Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt said in a statement.
‘With that the suspicion is strengthened that wild birds are connected with the cases in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as in the Netherlands and Britain,’ the minister said.