February 24, 2006

South Russia reports mass poultry deaths

A large poultry farm in the southern area of Krasnodar in Russia has reported mass poultry deaths on Feb 23, a day after bird flu was discovered in the neighbouring Stavropol region. 

Officials said all the 90,000 chickens that have shared the coop with the dead birds will be culled to prevent the spread of the disease.

However, some experts are suspecting that the deaths were not due to bird flu but the Newcastle disease, a rare disease among birds that is harmless to humans. The experts are investigating the case and will release the results over the weekend.

Bird deaths have also been reported on Feb 22 in neighboring Georgia and test results are still pending.