Tunisia has reported an outbreak of the highly contagious H5 bird flu virus among wild birds in the north of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Wednesday, citing information from the Tunisian agriculture ministry.
The outbreak was confirmed after testing of 30 wild birds found dead last month in the Ichkeul Natural Park, it said. “Tunisia is located in the main migratory corridor for wild birds going to Africa from Europe during winter migration. Migration is ongoing and this viral strain must have been carried over by migrating birds,” the OIE said.
Several countries in Europe and the Middle East have found cases of highly contagious bird flu in the past few weeks, while the outbreaks in Asia have led to large-scale culling of poultry in South Korea and Japan.
Source: News Agencies
