Sweden confirms H5N1 bird flu on game farm -EU

BRUSSELS, Mar 17 (Reuters) Sweden has confirmed the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu in a duck on a game farm in the east of the country, the second case on a commercial farm in the European Union, the EU executive said today.

All birds on the farm, around 500 mallards and 150 pheasants, would be killed and destroyed in the next few hours, the European Commission said in a statement.

''This is the second confirmed outbreak of avian influenza H5N1 on a commercial farm in the EU, with the first being the outbreak on a turkey farm in the Department of Ain in France in late February,'' it said.

REUTERS SHR KP2243