Seagulls fly over the medieval Charles Bridge in central Prague, Czech Republic, Feb. 17, 2006. On March 27, the first case of H5 bird flu was detected in a swan found on the Vltava river near Hluboka nad Vltavou, south Bohemia.
SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
Chickens, some of thousands, are reared in a barn at a farm in the village Belegis, near Belgrade on March 6, 2006. Serbia reported a fresh bird flu outbreak in the west of the republic, in addition to two cases recorded last week a week ago in a northern province bordering Croatia. A dead swan found last weekend near the village of Bacevci, near the boundary with Bosnia, had H5 strain of bird flu.
SWEDEN
Police halt the traffic at the cordoned-off area outside the nuclear plant in Oskarshamn, about 150 mile south of Stockholm, Sweden Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006. An aggressive strain of bird flu was been detected in two wild ducks that that were found dead there. Further tests are expected to confirm it is the deadly H5N1 strain, the National Veterinary Institute said.
RUSSIA
Workers of a poultry farm collect dead chickens to destroy them in the Kyzyl-Yurt region of Dagestan, southern Russia, Feb. 23, 2006. Authorities in Dagestan initially blamed mass deaths among birds at two poultry farms on Newcastle disease but later changed the diagnosis to bird flu.
ITALY
An officer of NAS (Food Safety Division of Carabinieri, Italian Paramilitary Police) looks at a hen during an inspection in a Nettuno's egg farm, some 30 miles south-west of Rome, Feb. 23, 2006. Italy's poultry industry, reeling from plunging sales after a deadly bird flu strain was found recently in wild birds, can receive millions of euros (dollars) in aid under a measure which won preliminary approval in Parliament.
MACEDONIA
Hunters in a boat, wearing protective suits, collect a gull after shooting it down in Dojran Lake in southeastern Macedonia, on the border with Greece, Feb. 23, 2006. Macedonian authorities ordered close monitoring of wild birds in the lakes including shooting of samples of wild flocks, which will be analyzed. So far there is no case of bird flu registered in Macedonia.
FRANCE
Two veterinary workers catch domestic birds with a net in a Toulouse's park following the governmental directive ordering the birds' containment against the threat of the avian flu in France, Feb.23 2006. A second case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in a wild duck in France, Agriculture Ministry officials said Thursday.
GREECE
Greek wildlife rehabilitator Maria Ganoti holds a wounded buzzard before operating in Athens, Feb. 22, 2006. Experts from the Greek Center for the Protection and Care of Wild Birds say large numbers of migratory birds carrying the avian flu virus are dying of exhaustion due to unusually low temperatures in eastern Europe.
BOSNIA
Bosnian workers kill chickens at a small farm near the central Bosnian town of Jajce, 120 kms west of Sarajevo, Feb. 21, 2006. A say after two dead swans found in central Bosnia have tested positive for an H5 strain of bird flu _ Bosnian authorities began the slaughter of some 4,400 poultry in the region.
HUNGARY
An Hungarian ranger, wearing a protection suit shows a dead swan found in a fishing lake near the village of Nagybaracska, Hungary, Feb. 19, 2006. The number of dead birds is increasing as Hungarian authorities test for the presence of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus and police closed the Nagybaracska village area and ordered bird keepers to keep their livestock indoors.
FRANCE
Ducks rest on a pond in Fromelles, near Lille, northern France, Feb. 18, 2006. The governement ordered all poultry in France to be either vaccinated or confined indoors as a precaution against the spread of bird flu.
SWITZERLAND
Chicken breeder Rene Jousson brings his laying hens into a covered enclosure, in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 18, 2006. Due to the possible infection with bird flu all poultry has to be stabled in Switzerland.
BULGARIA
A man feeds swans at Bulgarian Black sea coast of Varna some 280 miles north-east of the capital Sofia, Feb. 18, 2006. A Bulgarian was hospitalized in the city of Haskovo, south Bulgaria, after showing symptoms similar to bird flu.
GERMANY
An employee of the office of environment removes the carcass of a swan, Feb. 16, 2006 near the harbour of Wittower Fahre on the island of Ruegen, northeastern Germany. Three dead wild swans, which were infected by the H5N1 strain of the avian influenza, were found on the German island of Ruegen.
NETHERLANDS
Hens are seen inside a chicken farm in Baexem, southeast Netherlands, Feb. 16, 2006. After two dead swans in neighboring Germany had been preliminarily tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain, the Dutch agriculture ministry urged commercial poultry farmers to get their birds indoors as soon as possible as a protective measure to prevent an outbreak of bird flu.