So the earlier report of a suspected case of H5N1 in France has now been confirmed, according to the BBC, and they also say that tests are ongoing on two other dead ducks found, this time around the Somme.

The report also says that India has confirmed its first case of H5N1 at a poultry farm where 50,000 chickens died.

The BBC is reporting that a duck found dead in France has tested positive for H5 and is likely to be H5N1, the current major avian flu virus spreading through wild and domestic birds.

More from Google news on bird flu (H5N1) spreading to Germany here and Austria here.

The BBC has a breaking news story that H5N1 has reached Italy in Sicily and other cases are suspected elsewhere.

According to the BBC H5N1 has arrived in Nigeria, the first time bird flu has been identified in Africa.

This has been seen as something of a worry by scientists due to the size of the continent and the prevalence of AIDS which means many people with weakened immune systems who could both succumb and provide carriers for future mutation of the virus. As this New Scientist editorial said:

It is pretty clear now that wild water birds are carrying the virus. We do not know how many are infected, but they could spread the infection to the rest of Asia next and to Africa, where the prevalence of backyard chickens, poverty and HIV will be an explosive mix. The more humans are infected, the more likely it is that H5N1 will learn to spread between us.

On a complete tangent, Rich Boakes “autometa” tag generator for Technorati came up with the following, rather appropriate, list: h5n1 arrived nigeria time bird identified africa worry

The ABC is reporting that there have been new bird flu cases in Europe, with a new case in Britain where a parrot died in quarrantine. It’s known to be a case of H5, but no word whether it is H5N1 yet.

Croatia has also reported H5 in 6 dead swans which have been sent for testing for H5N1 and Romania has a new suspected case.

The BBC is reporting bird flu in Greece and possibly Croatia, test are being carried out to determine if it is H5N1 or not.

The BBC is reporting that the bird flu strain in Romania is confirmed as H5N1 by tests done in the UK.