Those planning to visit CR this summer might want to read this and follow up on just where the bird flu has been found as time to travel gets closer. There may be advice about what to do in foreign countries hit by bird flu at the US Center of Disease Control (Atlanta CDC) website. The following article from the Prague Post indicates that the area just north of Budweis / Ceske Budejovice may now have the infection. Karen Bird flu arrives in Czech Republic First case found in dead swan; EU confirmation awaited By Brandon Swanson Staff Writer, The Prague Post March 29, 2006 The country is awaiting confirmation from the European Union about whether a dead swan found infected with bird flu carried the deadly strain of the virus known as H5N1. The swan was found March 20 in Hluboká nad Vltavou–Zámostí, south Bohemia, less than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north of České Budějovice. A week later, public health officials announced its cause of death. "We have discovered one dead swan and confirmed bird flu," Josef Duben, spokesman for the State Veterinary Administration (SVS), said March 27. "Now we have to find out whether it is the highly pathogenic type of bird flu." The virus is carried by wild birds, which spread it to poultry. H5N1 is a virulent strain that can jump to humans: It is blamed for 105 deaths worldwide, mostly among those who spend extensive periods in direct contact with poultry. Scientists are worried that it could mutate into a form contagious among humans, potentially causing a global pandemic. The EU Reference Laboratory in Weybridge, United Kingdom, is testing the Czech swan. Authorities are expecting the swan to test positive for the strain. To date, the SVS has tested more than 1,000 dead birds for the virus. The swan is the only one that has tested positive for bird flu. The Regional Veterinary Administration (KVS) is now monitoring all breeding facilities within a 10-kilometer radius of Hluboká nad Vltavou–Zámostí. If the H5N1 strain is confirmed, the KVS would quarantine all poultry within a 3-kilometer radius and maintain a wider monitoring zone, KVS spokeswoman Maria Ptáčková said. It would also issue special measures for towns in the region. If confirmed, the Czech Republic would be the 12th European country to find the H5N1 virus. The country has stocked 650,000 Tamiflu vaccines to combat the spread of H5N1 among humans, and it plans to purchase another 600,000 this year. — Petr Kašpar contributed to this report.