Rare birds smuggled into Europe from Indonesia have to be killed after one is found to have deadly H5N1 virus

Rare birds smuggled into Vienna International Airport from Bali in Indonesia

All were killed after tests discovered one had deadly H5N1 virus

60 birds included wild parrots, birds of paradise and other exotic species

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 13:48, 12 June 2013 | UPDATED: 15:41, 12 June 2013

Dozens of rare birds smuggled into Europe from Indonesia had to be killed after one was discovered to have the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

The 60 birds - wild parrots, birds of paradise and other exotic species - had been trafficked from Bali to Qatar and then through Austria's Vienna International Airport.

They were smuggled in a suitcase before being killed by vets after the smugglers were caught. More than 30 of the birds were already dead when customs officials opened the case.

Tests on the bodies revealed that at least one of the birds had been infected with the deadly H5N1 virus.

A customs spokesman said: 'As a result of the discovery, all the surviving birds have been destroyed by the border veterinary service.

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Controversial bird flu research to resume

Bird flu researchers end a yearlong moratorium on experiments to determine whether the H5N1 virus can mutate and spread among humans. The work, which was deemed risky, won't resume yet in the U.S.

Bird flu researchers said Wednesday that they would end a self-imposed moratorium on controversial experiments to determine how the deadly H5N1 virus might mutate and gain the ability to spread easily among humans.

In a statement published online by the journals Science and Nature, 40 scientists said they were poised to resume their investigations — but only in countries that have established clear rules for conducting the research safely. The U.S., which is the largest funder of influenza research, is not yet among those nations.

"We want to resume virus transmission studies because we believe this research is important to pandemic preparedness," said University of Wisconsin virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka, one of the scientists whose work prompted biosecurity experts to call for new restrictions on flu research.

There have been only 610 confirmed human cases of bird flu since 2003, but 59% of those people have died. In nature, the virus has very limited ability to spread directly from person to person. Scientists fear that just a few key genetic mutations could change that, creating the pot

Continued:  http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-bird-flu-research-20130124,0,6627205.story