Bird flu spread to France for the first time with the discovery on Friday that a dead duck had tested positive for the virus, although it was not yet clear the fowl was carrying the deadly H5N1 strain, officials told Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa). Amid reports the disease was spreading in fowl in Europe and the Middle East, the World Health Organisation confirmed that an Iraqi who died in January was the country's second human bird flu victim. Officials said the disease had infected chickens in Egypt for the first time, while Azerbaijan and Slovenia reported more cases of H5N1, which is transmissible to humans. The H5N1 strain was probably present in a wild duck found in eastern France, according to test results. "The test showed the H5 virus was present and had strong similarities with the H5N1 Asian influenza," the farm ministry said, adding that further tests were being conducted. There were fears of further outbreaks in birds in Germany and Hungary, and tests were being carried out on suspect birds from Greece. --More 23 17 Local Time 20 17 GMT
