CBS – Forty-seven tigers, three lions and a panther have died in zoos in south Vietnam due to the H5N1 bird flu virus, state media said Wednesday.
The deaths occurred in August and September at the private My Quynh safari park in Long An province and the Vuon Xoai zoo in Dong Nai, near Ho Chi Minh City, the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.
According to test results from the National Centre for Animal Health Diagnosis, the animals died “because of H5N1 type A virus,” VNA said …
In 2004, dozens of tigers died from bird flu or were culled at the world’s largest breeding farm in Thailand.
In the U.S., bird flu has been detected in about 200 dairy herds in 14 states this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Bird flu has also been found in commercial and backyard flocks and in wild birds.
Last month, health officials in Missouri said a hospitalized patient was infected with bird flu despite having had no known contact with dairy cows or other animals associated with an ongoing outbreak.
At the time, It marked the 14th person in the U.S. sickened with bird flu since March, when the virus was detected in cows, after infecting wild birds and mammals worldwide.
