Bird Flu Outbreak in South Russia Spreads
December 25, 2007 by mimmson
Filed under Flu Pandemic - Top News Stories
A fifth case of bird flu has been confirmed at a farm in the Rostov Region, south Russia, close to the site of previous outbreaks, the regional emergencies ministry said.
“The outbreak at two smallholdings was registered on Saturday, samples were taken and sent for analysis, they came back positive for bird flu,” the ministry said.
All 79 birds on the smallholding have been culled. A quarantine zone has been introduced in the Tselinsky district near the site of the first case of the deadly virus.
The first bird flu outbreak was discovered in late November at the Gulyai-Borisovskaya poultry farm in the Rostov Region. The farm’s entire population of 500,000 chickens was culled. Later a bird flu outbreak was registered at a smallholding close to the farm.
Another outbreak was then discovered at a farm in the Tselinsky district.
The Rostov Region is particularly vulnerable to bird flu as part of the Krasnodar Territory, which is on a route taken by migrating birds in winter. In September, the region was hit by the H5N1 strain and 230,000 birds were culled.
