Bird Flu Virus Revealed in 2 More Russian Villages

MosNews
Oct. 18, 2005

Bird flu has been confirmed in two more Siberian villages, while 19 others are being kept under observation after reports of suspected cases, news agencies reported Tuesday.

The two infected villages are located in the western Siberian province of Kurgan, while those under observation are in the Novosibirsk and Altai provinces, Russia’s agriculture ministry said Monday.

The statement gave no indication of whether the infection involved the H5N1 strain that has killed more than 60 people in Asia and which is feared could mutate into to a form easily transmissible between humans and trigger a major health crisis, AFP reported.

Three other provinces where bird flu was detected earlier — Chelyabinsk, Omsk and Tyumen — are now free of the virus, the statement said.

Russian authorities have culled hundreds of thousands of fowl and imposed numerous quarantine zones in a bid to wipe out the virus since it arrived in Siberia this summer.

The spread of bird flu from Asia to Russia, apparently carried by migratory birds, presaged more recent outbreaks in Europe.

A number of countries have imposed full or partial bans on bird product imports from Russia and Kazakhstan, where a bird flu outbreak was also recorded in the summer.