Romania Finds Bird Flu in Domestic Fowl

Romania's neighbor, Ukraine, has declared a state of emergency in some parts of the country where bird flu was detected (epa) 12 December 2005 -- Romanian authorities quarantined three more villages today after domestic fowl tested positive for an H5 sub-type of bird flu.

The Agriculture Ministry said thousands of domestic birds will be culled in the eastern villages of Braiesti, Tataru, and Padina.

Further tests will determine whether the virus is the deadly H5N1 strain, which is being monitored worldwide for fear it could mutate into a form that is easily transferable among humans.

That virus has already been confirmed in three villages in the nearby Danube Delta, a large wetland reservation where hundreds of thousands of migratory birds have arrived from Russia.

(AP)