January 20, 2006

Ukraine reports new bird flu cases in Crimea

Authorities in Ukraine's Crimea peninsula imposed quarantine on the village of Predmostnoe after new cases of bird flu, local government said Thursday.

A total 33 chickens and one turkey died of bird flu in the village, and all birds were destroyed, the government said.

Also Thursday the city of Sevastopol, where a Russian naval base is located, has been declared a high risk zone after two seagulls were found there infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Local authorities have advised the population either to isolate their poultry, so as to avoid contact with wild birds, or destroy it, but the government said the population had not been following the advice.

Veterinary authorities in Crimea Friday lifted the quarantine in 16 out of the 18 locations where cases of bird flu, including the H5N1 strain, had been detected.

The quarantine still remains in the Solnechnoe village and in the town of Primorsky near Feodosia.