August 22, 2005

Russia suspects first bird flu outbreak on major farm

Russia's government suspected the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu might have hit a major commercial poultry farm for the first time, according to reports.

Local authorities in the western Siberian region of Omsk said a farm housing 142,000 birds would be quarantined, following suspicions of bird flu there.

All poultry on the farm would be culled immediately if laboratory tests confirmed cases of bird flu.

Recently, poultry farms and slaughterhouses in the European side of Russia have intensified veterinary checks and sanitary controls to prevent bird flu from infecting human food.

Meanwhile, reports said the virus had crossed Russia's Ural mountains and affected the country's Kalmykia region.

In response to the recent outbreaks, the Russian government had invited experts from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to the country for help, according to the FAO.