November 22, 2005

Bird flu could enter Russia next spring

Cases of bird flu in Russia are easing, but could spread across the whole of European Russia next spring, according to a top official, Interfax reported Monday.

"There is a clear decline in instances of the disease in Russia. However, according to a forecast made by the Animal Ecology Institute, migration in spring 2006 is likely to result in the spread of pathogenic viruses of H5 flu throughout European Russia," the head of the Federal Consumer Rights and Welfare Service, Gennady Onishchenko, said in a letter to senior health officials, the agency said.

The H5N1 strain has devastated poultry industries in South-east Asia and killed more than 60 people. Scientists fear it could mutate into a dangerous strain capable of passing between humans, causing a pandemic.

The last cases of bird flu in Russia were registered in the city of Tula in October. The previous cases came in the Urals region in mid-August.