February 28, 2006

Russian cabinet ordered to form bird flu task force

Russia's president Monday (Feb 27) ordered the cabinet to set up a bird flu task force as the disease continued to spread in the country.

"I believe that some senior member of the Cabinet should lead such a group," ITAR-Tass quoted Vladimir Putin as telling a government meeting. Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov suggested one of his two first deputies, Dmitry Medvedev.

A southern Russian village was put under quarantine after 10 chickens died on a private farm and veterinarians gave a preliminary diagnosis of the H5 strain of bird flu, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday.

The chickens started dying Thursday and all poultry on the farm, in the Adygean village of Northeast Gardens, has been destroyed and a quarantine established, said Vladimir Gerasin, a duty officer in the ministry's southern regional branch. Samples from the dead birds have been sent to Moscow for further testing.

Six regions of southern Russia have registered mass bird deaths this year, attributed either to bird flu or to Newcastle Disease.

Samples are being tested at various laboratories to pinpoint the cause of the illnesses that have killed some 300,000 birds, said Oleg Grekov, spokesman for the southern district office of the Emergency Situations Ministry.

The deputy head of the Moscow veterinary department, Vladimir Burkov, said Monday that Russia would start inoculating poultry against bird flu after March 15.