17.05.2006

The H5N1 avian influenza strain has been found in a duck in Laos, but there is no sign that the virus is spreading, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Wednesday.
The isolated case in a backyard farm 20 km (12 miles) south of Vientiane is the first since the Southeast Asian nation reported an outbreak among poultry in early 2004.
The duck was discovered in February by researchers on a surveillance project in the area. The case was reported recently to the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).