A second bird flu case was confirmed by the veterinary services on Wednesday at Athalassa park in Nicosia.

The death of the goose follows the announcement on Monday that a bird of the same species had been found to have bird flu on Tuesday.

“We are consistently checking the area and there are daily checks being carried out since Monday,” veterinary services officer Dimitris Epaminondas told the Cyprus Mail.

Epaminondas said that the disease has a high morbidity rate and shows symptoms such as respiratory issues and swollen heads. In some cases, it also causes neurological symptoms, such as so-called “drunk stepping”.

As of now, four people that have been in direct contact with the dead birds are undergoing daily PCR testing at the hospital to see if they too have caught the disease, which have so far yielded negative results.

They are not in quarantine though. “Quarantine is not the correct term this is a prophylactic procedure,” Epaminondas said.  

The four people are the person who found the first bird and three officers of the forestry department who were in direct contact with the animals.

The veterinary services on Tuesday advised the public to avoid close contact with birds at Athalassa park after H5N1 avian influenza was detected in a goose at a lake there.

While bird flu can be dangerous and sometimes even fatal to humans, infections with the virus are rare.

Infections typically occur after close, unprotected contact with infected birds, poultry or livestock by touching sick or dead animals or drinking unpasteurised raw milk.

The virus, however, does not spread easily from person to person.

The veterinary services appealed to poultry and bird owners to immediately report increased illness or deaths among their animals that could indicate bird flu to their district veterinary office.

The department can be reached on: Nicosia 22 805241, Larnaca 24 821275, Famagusta 24 824555, Limassol 25 819512 and Paphos 26 821260.