Bird flu spreads in Pakistan; new outbreak in birds

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities confirmed on Monday a fresh outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu at a poultry farm on the outskirts of Karachi, the second case in four days in the country's biggest city, a government official said.

Authorities have found several outbreaks of the virus in poultry and birds in North West Frontier Province and the capital, Islamabad, since it was first detected in the country in early 2006.

The first human case, which resulted in a death, was confirmed in December.

The new outbreak was found on a farm only 300 meters (yards) from where an outbreak was detected last week.

"Samples taken from it were tested and found positive for H5N1," said Food and Agriculture Ministry official Rafiq-ul-Hassan Usmani.

"Some 500 to 600 birds died of the virus and the remaining 5,500 chickens at the farm are being culled now."

Tests were also being done on samples taken from poultry farms in Punjab province but no outbreak had been confirmed, a government spokesman said.

In December, the World Health Organisation said it had established a single case of human infection of bird flu in a sick family in North West Frontier Province, but there was no apparent risk of its spreading further. The man died.

(Reporting by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Robert Birsel)