October 21, 2005

Fear spreads in Ukraine as bird flu arises in neighbours

Bird flu has not reached Ukraine, but in villages where chickens and geese ran freely, residents have been debating what to do if it reached them. They feared it was only a matter of time.

In the past week, the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu appeared in Romania, which borders Ukraine to the south, and advanced into the European part of Russia, which lies to Ukraine's east.

Slaughtering their flocks would be a big blow; domestic birds were an important source of income and food in this impoverished ex-Soviet republic. So far, there was no need to.

But Ukraine remained on high alert. On Tuesday, an infected swan was discovered in northern Romania, just 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Ukraine's border.

The H5N1 strain has killed 60 people in Asia, and scientists worried that it would eventually mutate into a strain against which humans had no defenses, setting off a pandemic.

This country of 47 million has already strengthened controls over the poultry industry, banned wild bird hunting and urged Ukrainians to keep their birds inside - advice few appeared to be heeding.

In addition to fears of a human pandemic, Ukrainians were also concerned about what they would eat. Poultry was often the only meat that many Ukrainians could afford.

Lyudmila Muharskay, a top health official, said the health ministry was pushing to increase the country's stockpiles of ordinary anti-flu medicine. Ukrainians in areas considered high-risk, near the Romanian border and near wetlands where migratory birds were often found, have already started receiving vaccinations.

Such shots were given to prevent more common flu strains so that if a person got infected with the bird virus, there was no human flu strain inside the body to mix with and create a dangerous hybrid.