09.03.2006

The H5N1 avian influenza virus has been found in a stone marten, a German laboratory said Thursday, indicating the disease has spread to another species of mammal.
This finding marks the first documented infection of this species with an avian influenza virus.The Friedrich-Loeffler Institute confirmed the presence of the virus in the marten, a weasel-like animal, found on the island of Ruegen in north Germany on March 2.
The sick animal apparently dying,was found in the same heavily affected area of the island, near Schaprode, as three dead domestic cats. Tests conducted at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut subsequently confirmed that all three cats were infected with the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus.
The stone marten is a predatory nocturnal mammal with feeding habits similar to those of domestic cats. As with the cats found on Ruegen island, the marten is presumed to have acquired its infection after feeding on an infected bird.
In August 2005, tests on three rare Owston’s palm civets that died in captivity in Viet Nam detected H5N1 infection, marking the first known infection in this mammalian species.