Suspected French bird flu outbreak

FRENCH OFFICIALS have confirmed the presence of a H5 bird flu virus on a turkey farm in the east of the country and are now awaiting test results to determine if it is the H5N1 strain.

The suspected outbreak was discovered yesterday (Thursday) on a farm with 11,000 turkeys in the department of Ain, near Lyon. All birds were slaughtered the same day.

It happened close to where two wild birds were found dead with the H5N1 strain of the virus.

If the test proves positive for H5N1, it will be the first case in farm birds in Western Europe.