August 15, 2005

Bird flu hits a sixth region in Russia

Russia has found bird flu in a sixth region since the disease struck the country on Jul 10.

On Aug 15, Andrei Gasilov, the vice-governor of the Urals region of Chelyabinsk, said that the bird flu had killed 60 chickens in the Oktyabrskoye village since Aug 13. Poultry culling is being carried out in the village to prevent the virus from spreading, Gasilov said.

Other regions hit by the bird flu are Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Omsk, Kurgan and Altai. Chelyabinsk is the westmost region to have been hit so far; the others are further east in Siberia.

It is still unclear if the virus strain in the country is the pathogenic H5N1.