September 5, 2007

Russia confirms H5N1 bird flu in Krasnodar farm

Russian veterinary inspectors have confirmed an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu at a farm in Krasnodar in the south of the country near the Black Sea, the news agency RIA Novosti reports the Federal Agriculture Agency as saying Tuesday (September 4).

The news agency reported that brain matter from a dead bird at the firm had been tested at a federal laboratory, which had established the presence of the H5N1 strain of the virus.

It said 410 other birds at the Lebyazhe-Chepiginskoye farm had died of infection, and another 414 were subsequently killed as a pre-emptive measure.

No one at the Federal Agriculture Agency was immediately reachable to confirm the report.