TEHRAN, Feb 18: Iran said on Saturday that 135 wild swans found dead at the Caspian Sea coast have tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu, the first cases of the virus to be confirmed in the country.

But officials insisted that the virus had not yet appeared in Iran’s food chain and that there has not been any cases of human contractions.

“Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in 135 wild swans in two places in the Anzali wetlands in northern Iran,” Iranian veterinary chief Hossein Hassani told the official news agency IRNA.

“There are no cases in any other parts of the country. Nothing has been detected in the free-range or factory-bred birds. There is no concern about human contraction,” he asserted. —AFP