Bird flu found in swans, two poultry farms in Czech Republic

[January 04, 2017]  PRAGUE (Reuters) - Bird flu has been found in swans and at two small poultry farms in the southeast of the Czech Republic, Agriculture Minister Marian Jurecka said on Wednesday.

State Veterinary Administration chief Zbynek Semerad said that the highly contagious H5 type has been confirmed and further tests were performed to determine whether the N8 sub-type is present, which is "assumed".

A 3- and a 10-kilometre zones have been put in place around the infected premises in Ivancice and Moravsky Krumlov, Semerad said.

"There are farms (in the 10-km zone) with around 150,000 poultry... these will be checked regularly," he said, adding infected birds and poultry will be culled.

It is Czech Republic's first case of bird flu in roughly 10 year, Jurecka said.

The H5N8 strain has been detected recently in neighboring Germany and Slovakia and in other European countries.

(Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

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