Budapest
Hungary, Bosnia, and Croatia confirmed outbreaks of avian flu this week, as the deadly H5N1 strain spread across Europe. The disease surfaced last week in birds in Italy and Greece. The panic is spreading even faster than the disease. Consumer purchases of chicken and duck meat are down at least 25 percent throughout Europe, even though scientists say humans cannot get the flu by eating infected birds. In Germany, the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania declared a state of emergency when its first bird got sick. In Britain, where no outbreak has yet been recorded, the ravens that live at the Tower of London have been brought inside so they won’t be exposed to any germs.
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