The deadly strain of bird flu was confirmed Tuesday in a cat in northern Germany, the first time the virus has been identified in a mammal in the 25 nations of the European Union.
The cat was on the northern island of Ruegen, where most of the more than 100 wild birds infected by the H5N1 strain were found, the Friedrich Loeffler institute said.
The cat was found dead over the weekend and then tested positive for H5N1, laboratory leader Thomas Mettenleiter said. Posted by binky at February 28, 2006 02:13 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Health