Spain Reports First Case of Bird Flu

MADRID, Spain — Spain has recorded its first case of H5N1 bird flu, discovered in a wild fowl in a marshland area near a northern city, the government said Friday. Officials are working to determine where the sick bird came from and whether the virus is similar to the strain that has proven lethal to humans in Asia and elsewhere, Agriculture Minister Elena Espinosa said. A sample was sent to a British laboratory for DNA analysis, and a two-mile protected zone has been declared around the area outside the city of Vitoria where the bird — a great crested grebe — was found. As bird flu spread to several European countries late last year, officials said it was only a matter of time before the disease made it to Spain, which is on the route of birds migrating north from Africa. — The Associated Press http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/14992740.htm