CBC: European Union says dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu found in Croatia

CBCEuropean Union says dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu found in Croatia

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union announced Wednesday the dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in Croatia, the latest European nation to be hit by the virus.

"The Commission has been informed by the European Union reference laboratory in Weybridge that the virus isolated in wild birds in Croatia is indeed the H5N1 virus," said EU Commission spokesman Philip Tod. Meanwhile in Denmark, European health officials end a three-day review of the continent's readiness to contain an influenza pandemic with fears growing that bird flu is closing in on Europe's heartland. World Health Organization and EU experts have been meeting in Copenhagen since Monday to analyze the threat of the bird flu virus mutating into a type that can be spread between humans.

At the start of the meeting, experts said Europe was better prepared to contain outbreaks of bird flu than Asia because of better resources and communication between countries.