Poland finds second nucleus of H5 avian influenza

WARSAW, March 11 (Reuters) Poland's second nucleus of H5 bird flu has been uncovered in a western town near the German border, the country's chief veterinary officer said today.

''The H5 bird flu virus has been diagnosed in a dead swan found near a water-pumping station in the town of Kostrzyn on the Odra river,'' Krzysztof Jazdzewski told a news conference.

Emergency procedures have been put into effect, with a restricted 3 km area under special surveillance as well as a 10-km endangered zone, which overlaps into Germany.

Special patrols have begun counting poultry and policing compliance with a ban on free-ranging birds in the surrounding countryside and disinfectant mats have been laid out on roads leading out of town.

Jazdzewski said the Community Reference Laboratory in Weybridge near London had confirmed that the swans found a week earlier in the northern city of Torun had been infected with the the deadly H5N1 virus.

The Kostrzyn pumping station lies at the edge of the Mouth of the Warta National Park, one of Europe's largest wetland nesting areas of migratory waterfowl.

The pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus has spread from Asia to Europe and Africa, infecting almost 200 people since late 2003 and killing at least 93 of them.

REUTERS CH RK1915