28.03.2006

Swedish veterinarians have found a mink with the H5 avian influenza virus and had the mammal put down, the National Veterinary Institute said on Monday.
The animal was found in the Blekinge region of south Sweden, an area where several avian influenza cases have been found. What is initially described as an virulent form of H5 avian influenza is often later confirmed as the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus.
The mink probably got the disease from eating wild birds which were already infected, the Institute said in a statement.
The virus has also recently been detected in a marten, a weasel-like mammal, and cats in Germany, and a dog in Azerbaijan.