Deadly bird flu kills six wild birds, Germany says

HAMBURG, June 25 (Reuters) Six dead wild birds have tested positive in Germany for a lethal strain of bird flu, authorities said today.

On Sunday, three wild birds found dead in Nuremberg in the southern state of Bavaria tested positive for the dangerous H5N1 strain of the disease.

The number cases has since risen to six, with five swans and one goose infected, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, a veterinary institution, said.

Authorities continued to investigate the outbreak, the first in Germany this year, which was discovered as part of a national testing programme for dead birds.

Poultry farmers in the Nuremberg region have been ordered to confine all poultry to closed stalls. As of Saturday, a 21-day ban was imposed on bringing poultry or poultry products in or out of the area, which is now a quarantine zone.

City officials also warned cat and dog owners not to allow their pets to roam freely in the quarantine zone.

Last year, some 13 European Union member states had confirmed cases of bird flu -- Germany, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Britain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, France and Hungary.

Bird flu has been spreading across southeast Asia, killing two people in Vietnam this month, the first deaths there since 2005.

Globally, the H5N1 virus has killed nearly 200 people out of over 300 known cases, according to the World Health Organisation. None of the victims were from Europe.

Reuters SKB VV1555