Poland decided on Saturday to tighten control in areas bordering Germany to prevent the entry of bird flu which has killed two birds in a German city close to Poland.

A dead wild duck and a dead swan were tested positive for the most severe H5N1 strain of bird flu virus on the edge of Schwedt, a German city northeast of Berlin and near the border with Poland on Saturday, arousing high alert in Poland.

In the neighboring Polish state of Woj. Zachodniopomorske, the local emergency reaction department held an urgent meeting on Saturday night to discuss the situation.

After the meeting, the department announced a series of precautionary measures against the disease, including the launch of a blanket sanitization operation and close monitoring in several border regions.

Poland is also going to collaborate with Germany to jointly fight the pandemic, the department said.

According to the Polish Pulawy National Veterinary Research Institute, the fact that the bird flu virus has not been discovered in Poland does not mean that there are no birds infected with the disease in the country.

Since its first appearance in the European Union countries on Feb. 11, 2006, the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has hit eight countries in the integrated zone, which include Italy, France, Germany, Greece, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary.

Source: Xinhua