January 13, 2006

Russia to vaccinate its poultry in spring

Russia will vaccinate its poultry in spring with efforts primarily focused in the European part of the country and parts of Siberia.

The Russian government will allocate 1 billion rubles (about US$35 million) in 2006 for vaccinations against bird flu, said speaker of the Russian Lower House of Parliament, Boris Gryzlov.

A large-scale vaccination of domestic birds will be carried out as part of measures to contain the virus's spread. Domestic birds will be vaccinated in potential disease hotbeds and a total of 100 million vaccine doses will be provided.

Parliament's budget and tax committee will also discuss using reserve funds to help control the spread of the virus.

Vaccine testing will end in March and the reserve vaccine will go into production in April, according to the Russian Flu Research Institute. The reserve vaccine will be used for troops patrolling the Sino-Russia border, poultry workers and medical professionals treating the disease.

Russia lost 700,000 birds to bird flu since July 2005, either through culling or infection, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said Thursday.

The first wave of avian flu hit six Russian regions from July to September in 2005 while the second outbreak occurred in October in five regions.

Russia's health ministry said it is currently controlling the situation in the country's south to prevent the virus from spreading.

Controls in other Russian regions have been lifted following the end of the standard 21-day quarantine period. There have been no registered cases of bird flu among people, the ministry added.