German authorities are reporting that a case of the bird flu virus, or H5N1, has been discovered at a duck farm in Brandenburg after initial testing procedures.
The bird flu mainly affects birds but has the capability to spread to humans.
And in the wake of human bird flu cases being reported in China, Cambodia and Indonesia, there is fear among experts who think that there may be a possibility that the virus could mutate into a form that can spread easily.
Humans have no natural immunity against the illness.
German authorities say that final testing for the H5N1 virus is being conducted after a state laboratory confirmed the initial results.
The duck farm has been closed and the poultry will be culled, according to a statement as reported by Reuters. A cause for the virus has not been determined, but an investigation has been launched in response to the findings.
And aside from the human bird flu cases reported in Asia, there have also been reports of the virus in wild birds in some areas of Europe.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, stated on Jan. 29 that the current economic crisis must not come in the way of protecting the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, The Cambodia Daily reported the sixth death in the country as a result of the H5N1 virus today.
A 3-year-old girl was diagnosed with bird flue on Monday and died Wednesday morning, according to the Cambodian news outlet.
"When we found out that she had bird flu, it was already too late for her to get treatment. We couldn't save her," the girl's father Tun Sambath said.
Symptoms of the H5N1 virus include cough, fever, sore throat and muscle aches. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea may also be present in some cases of the H5N1 virus. Conjunctivitis, a mild eye infection, can sometimes be the only sign of bird flu in a few cases.
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