The strain of avian flu that can kill people has been found in one of six live ducks intercepted by Kinmen authorities on a beach in Hsiyuan in northeastern Kinmen during an anti-smuggling operation on Dec. 9, health authorities reported yesterday.
Officials from the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine under the Council of Agriculture, Kinmen Office, said that the six live red-faced ducks are believed to have come from China.
The six ducks were destroyed after bureau officials took samples of the animals for examination.
The bureau's researchers on Tuesday confirmed that the avian flu H5N1 virus was present in one of the six ducks.
According to Chen Yu-hsin, head of the bureau's Department of Animal Health Inspection and Quarantine, the H5N1 virus can be passed from animals to humans.
During an avian flu outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997, 18 people were infected and six died. A total of 1.6 million birds were eradicated in December of that year in an attempt to prevent more people from becoming infected.
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