Deadly Flu Strain Confirmed in Sweden

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Sweden recorded its first case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain on Wednesday, saying European laboratory tests confirm two wild ducks found dead in the southeast were infected with the virus.

Danish authorities said they too had found a wild bird infected with an aggressive strain of bird flu, but it was not immediately whether it was the deadly H5N1 strain.

If confirmed as H5N1, it would be the first case of the virus in Denmark.

In Myanmar, officials have culled 5,000 chickens and banned the sale of chickens and eggs near a farm in Mandalay. That's where Myanmar's first case of the deadly H5N1 virus was detected.

Nearly 100 people have died from bird flu, most of them in Asia. There's concern the virus could mutate into a form that could be spread person to person, triggering a human pandemic.