February 21, 2007

 

New areas around Russia's Moscow test for H5N1 bird flu
 

 

Tests were being carried out on poultry found dead in several new areas in suburban Moscow to determine whether the animals had died of the same H5N1 bird flu strain that has affected birds in other areas on the outskirts of the Russian capital, officials said Tuesday.

 

The birds that died had been purchased at the same animal market just outside Moscow that has been the source of birds infected with H5N1 in at least four districts around the capital, according to Nikolai Vlasov, a top official with the federal agriculture oversight agency Rosselkhoznadzor. The market has remained closed for disinfection.

 

Vlasov told RIA Novosti news agency it would take a few days to identify the cause of the poultry deaths.

 

The poultry that died belonged to individuals who had bought birds recently. Many people in the Moscow suburbs keep small numbers of chickens and other farm animals in their yards.

 

Vlasov sought to allay fears about the safety of consuming poultry products, emphasising that commercial farms are strictly controlled for sanitary safety.

 

"We've already said that the produce from battery farms is safe, and it is mainly this kind that shops stock," he said. He added that markets were also monitored but warned about buying birds from individual vendors outside official stores and markets.

 

Officials said the virus strain was of a highly virulent subtype and could have originated in Asia, the Caucasus region or the Balkans.

 

Several people who had been in close contact with the dead birds were under medical observation, officials said, but no health problems had been reported.

 

No human cases of bird flu have been reported in Russia, which had its first reported cases of the H5N1 strain in Siberia in 2005. Outbreaks have since occurred further west, but mostly in southern areas far from the capital.

 

At least 190 domestic birds died between Feb 10 and Feb 19 on the outskirts of Moscow, and H5N1 has been confirmed at farms in four districts near Moscow, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said in a statement.

 

An additional 75 birds were found dead Tuesday in the town of Ramenskoye east of Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported, citing regional veterinary officials.

 

Another 20 poultry deaths were registered in the village of Yershovskoye in the western Odintsovo region and seven birds died in the village of Solodovo in the north-western Volokolamsk region, Vlasov said.

 

Meanwhile, Russian veterinary laboratories have officially confirmed the presence of H5N1 bird flu in Moscow and the Domodedovsky, Odintsovsky, Podolsky, Naro-Fominsky and Taldomsky districts of the Moscow region, the emergencies ministry reported Wednesday.

 

Results of tests in two more districts, Volokolamsky and Ramensky, are expected by Feb 23.

 

Since the outbreak was first detected on Feb 9, 1,833 poultry have been destroyed, including 333 birds dying of the virus, the ministry said.