[originaltext] A number of people in India are being tested for possible bird

A number of people in India are being tested for possible bird flu infection following the discovery of the most virulent strain of the disease in the State of Maharashtra. Only hours earlier, the presence of the H5N1 strain of bird flu had been confirmed among thousands of dead chickens at a farm in Maharashtra. In Iran, tests on dead swans in the north of the country have shown that they were infected by the same strain. Cases have also been confirmed in Austria and in France, where tests on a wild duck found dead at a poultry farm proved it was carrying H5N1 bird flu. The United Nations special coordinator David Nabarro said the authorities everywhere had to be prepared to deal with an outbreak.