The 2005/2006 avian influenza monitoring of wild birds and commercial poultry in Switzerland

In October 2005, the second Swiss national avian influenza monitoring in wild waterfowl and commercial poultry with free range management started. Cloacal swabs were examined by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for both M gene of influenza A virus and H5 subtype. The monitoring (more than 2000 samples tested) documented the introduction of H5N1 in Swiss wild waterfowl in mid-February 2006. Until the end of March, 29 water bird carcasses were found H5 positive. In the same period, domestic poultry flocks with a permit of free-range management were kept under surveillance, with negative results.