Germany raises bird flu alert to “high”
Thursday, July 5th, 2007 | Email this to a friend | Print this
Posted by John Higgins under: Pestilence
BERLIN, July 5 (Xinhua) — The German authorities on Thursday raised the alert for bird flu from “moderate” to “high” after 38 more wild birds were tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain in eastern Germany.
“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7
The birds were among the 100 found dead on an artificial lane between the states of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, German news agency dpa reported.
German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer has instructed the country’s states not to ease their protective measures.
Germany has ordered farmers to keep poultry indoors as bird flu has been discovered in a total of four German states–Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony- Anhalt.
Experts fear that the H5N1 bird flu virus could transmute into deadly human influenza that could kill millions.
Bird flu has also been found in Hungary, Britain, the Czech Republic, and most recently France this year.
According to the World Health Organization, the H5N1 virus has globally killed nearly 200 people out of more than 300 cases since 2003.