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ARCHIVED - Spain detects first case of bird flu in humans
The Spanish infection is only the second case in humans in Europe
The Spanish authorities have confirmed that a worker on a poultry farm in the Castilla-La Mancha province of Guadalajara has tested positive for avian flu, the first human case in the country. An outbreak of the devastating disease had already been confirmed on the property which forced the slaughter of 601,000 laying hens.
According to the Ministry of Health, the staff member is asymptomatic and all of the other farm workers have tested negative. This is only the second case of human bird flu detected in Europe.
Bird flu has been tearing through Spain at an alarming rate since the beginning of the year, and the Ministry of Agriculture believes that the most likely route of introduction of the virus is through wild migratory birds, which are natural carriers of Type A influenza.
Captive poultry can pick up the virus through sharing drinking water with wild birds, and once the infection is present it spreads rapidly. The only course of action is to euthanise the animals and set up a safety perimeter, usually of several kilometres, around the farm.
The Guadalajara outbreak was first detected on September 8 when the farm reported an abnormal increase in mortality among its caged birds.
Image: Government of Aragon
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