February 10, 2006

Bird flu confirmed in dead birds in Azerbaijan
 

The Azerbaijan Health Ministry said Friday a London laboratory has confirmed the presence of the H5N1 strain of avian flu in dead birds from the Caspian Sea coast.

According to local media, thousands of dead migratory birds were found floating along the sea coast near the northern Khachmas and Devechi districts in Azerbaijan at the beginning of this month.

Mass bird deaths have also been registered in southern and western districts. The dead birds include crows and swans.

State television urged viewers not to prepare poultry dishes and broadcast descriptions of bird flu symptoms, while the Health and Agriculture Ministries appealed to people to avoid contact with fowl and to isolate domestic poultry from wild birds.

Part of Azerbaijan shares a short border with eastern Turkey, where four children died after becoming infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

The first case of mass deaths among birds was registered in the autumn in the Nakhichivan region, bordering on Turkey. More deaths occurred in December and January, but health authorities insisted that the birds had been infected with avian flu and said there was no cause for concern.

Still, at the urging of the US government, Azerbaijan sent samples from dead birds to a British laboratory for additional tests, said the former Soviet republic's chief epidemiologist, Viktor Kasumov.

"No cases among humans have been recorded, and medical services are taking all necessary preventive measures," the Health and Agriculture Ministries said in a joint statement.

They called on people to inform their local state veterinary services of any deaths among birds. About 200,000 migratory birds spend the winter in the environs of Baku, on the Caspian Sea shore, said Elchin Sultanov, an ornithologist.