Two items from Reuters, France and Germany

France confirms H5N1 flu virus in swans
PARIS, July 5 (Reuters) - Tests have confirmed that three swans found dead in eastern France were killed by the H5N1 bird flu virus, the French agriculture ministry said on Thursday, France’s first cases of the disease in over a year.

The government raised its alert level to “high” as a result, meaning that birds and poultry in mainland France will either have to be locked up or protected by nets to avoid all contact with wild birds, a ministry official said.

Pigeon races and other events where birds are gathered will be forbidden.

“Michel Barnier, minister of agriculture and fishing, is putting in place the risk-prevention measures corresponding to the shift from the ‘moderate’ level to the ‘high’ level,” the ministry said in a statement.

Germany said it was raising its assessment of the risk of bird flu following the French announcement and after officials on Wednesday discovered more birds that had died of the H5N1 virus, this time in the eastern state of Thuringia.

Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on Thursday asked veterinary services to be more vigilant in the outlook for possible bird flu cases.

Spain already bans hunting with decoys, outdoor poultry raising and the isolation of breeding areas for wild aquatic birds in high-risk zones like bird migatory paths and wetlands.

In 98 regions in France classed as at risk — some 15 percent of the country — there will be special veterinary checks at poultry farms.

Germany raises bird flu threat level
BERLIN, July 5 (Reuters) - Germany is raising its assessment of the risk of bird flu after officials in France and Germany discovered more birds which had died of the H5N1 virus, the country’s top state veterinary laboratory said on Thursday. “We will raise the threat level,” said a spokeswoman for the Friedrich Loeffler Institute.

She cited the news from Wednesday that more wild birds had tested positive for the lethal strain of H5N1 bird flu in Germany — this time in the eastern state of Thuringia.

In addition, France confirmed its first cases of the disease in over a year earlier on Thursday, she noted.

The assessment level affects the measures the government and local authorities take to prevent bird flu, such as keeping birds to confined areas.

Germany’s federal states on Thursday agreed they would not ease rules on keeping poultry indoors as had been planned in Friday’s session of the upper house, or Bundesrat, where the states are represented.