Greece reports H5N8 bird flu in wild swan, OIE says

Greece has reported a case of the highly contagious H5N8 bird flu virus in a wild bird, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Monday, citing official information from Greece.

The virus was found in a wild swan in the Evros river delta in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, the Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food said on a report posted on the OIE website.

Several countries in Europe and the Middle East have found cases of highly contagious bird flu in the past few weeks. Outbreaks in Asia have led to large-scale culling of poultry in South Korea, China and Japan.

The H5N8 virus has not been found in humans and cannot be transmitted through food. [Reuters]