April 14, 2006

New H5N1 cases in Russia's Volgograd and Rostov regions

The Volgograd regional office of the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported Thursday (Apr 13) that the H5N1 bird flu was the cause of death of 25 chickens in the village of Kolobrodovo in the Frolovsky district of the Volgograd region, as determined by the regional veterinary laboratory.

Also the government of the Rostov region in southern Russia announced confirmation that the H5N1 strain was found in the wild birds dying in the Konstantinovsky district.

The ministry reported Thursday that bird flu was present in 43 locations in 11 regions in southern Russia. The total number of birds that had died and had been culled to date was 1.372 million.