Virus Found in 2 More Regions
Monday, August 8, 2005. Issue 3225.
By Dmitry Solovyov and Aleksandras Budrys
Reuters
Bird flu has been officially confirmed in two more regions, and the disease appears to spreading in northern Kazakhstan, officials said Friday.
Health officials fear that a subtype of bird flu dangerous to humans may mutate into a lethal strain that could rival or exceed the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 20 million to 40 million people worldwide at the end of World War I.
The presence of the highly pathogenic H5N1 subtype that can cause disease in humans has so far been confirmed in only one region, Novosibirsk. But four other Siberian regions have been confirmed to have some sort of bird flu virus.
The Agriculture Ministry said Friday that the disease had been confirmed in wildfowl in two locations in the Kurgan region and in one in the Omsk region. Bird flu has already been confirmed in the Altai and Tyumen regions.
The ministry statement said the virus found in Kurgan and Omsk did not appear to be highly pathogenic.
H5N1 bird flu has killed more than 50 people in Asia since late 2003, mostly in Vietnam. Bird flu has also led to the death of 140 million birds at a cost running to billions of dollars.
Russia has culled over 10,000 domestic birds in the last few days to stop the virus from spreading, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement that no new deaths had occurred among wildfowl and domestic poultry on Thursday in the Altai, Tyumen and Omsk regions.
However, 139 birds were found dead in the Novosibirsk region.
Senior veterinary officials in neighboring Kazakhstan have confirmed bird flu has broken out in the Pavlodar region, bordering Novosibirsk. Officials there said it was premature to say whether the Pavlodar outbreak was dangerous to humans.
The European Union will ban imports of chickens and other birds and poultry products from Russia and Kazakhstan to help prevent the spread of bird flu, the European Commission said Saturday.
By Dmitry Solovyov and Aleksandras Budrys
Reuters
Bird flu has been officially confirmed in two more regions, and the disease appears to spreading in northern Kazakhstan, officials said Friday.
Health officials fear that a subtype of bird flu dangerous to humans may mutate into a lethal strain that could rival or exceed the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 20 million to 40 million people worldwide at the end of World War I.
The presence of the highly pathogenic H5N1 subtype that can cause disease in humans has so far been confirmed in only one region, Novosibirsk. But four other Siberian regions have been confirmed to have some sort of bird flu virus.
The Agriculture Ministry said Friday that the disease had been confirmed in wildfowl in two locations in the Kurgan region and in one in the Omsk region. Bird flu has already been confirmed in the Altai and Tyumen regions.
The ministry statement said the virus found in Kurgan and Omsk did not appear to be highly pathogenic.
H5N1 bird flu has killed more than 50 people in Asia since late 2003, mostly in Vietnam. Bird flu has also led to the death of 140 million birds at a cost running to billions of dollars.
Russia has culled over 10,000 domestic birds in the last few days to stop the virus from spreading, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement that no new deaths had occurred among wildfowl and domestic poultry on Thursday in the Altai, Tyumen and Omsk regions.
However, 139 birds were found dead in the Novosibirsk region.
Senior veterinary officials in neighboring Kazakhstan have confirmed bird flu has broken out in the Pavlodar region, bordering Novosibirsk. Officials there said it was premature to say whether the Pavlodar outbreak was dangerous to humans.
The European Union will ban imports of chickens and other birds and poultry products from Russia and Kazakhstan to help prevent the spread of bird flu, the European Commission said Saturday.
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