December 7, 2005

Ukraine's parliament to discuss bird flu outbreak

Ukraine's parliament scheduled an emergency session Tuesday to discuss the outbreak of bird flu in this ex-Soviet republic.

Lawmakers were expected to hear from senior officials about the preventive measures taken after President Viktor Yushchenko ordered a state of emergency in three regions in the Crimean peninsula.

Ukraine recorded its first case of bird flu type H5 Saturday after hundreds of birds died near the Sivash Lake, a marshy area that is frequented by migratory birds.

Ukrainian authorities put the affected villages under quarantine and began culling all domestic fowl in the three regions. The Emergency Situations Ministry said Tuesday that the threat appears to have been contained, with no cases of bird flu in any other Crimean region.

As of Tuesday, 22,318 birds had been seized from village courtyards for destruction as part of the cull, emergency officials said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine awaited the results of tests from laboratories in Italy and the UK, to determine whether the disease was the deadly H5N1 strain, which is being monitored for fear it could mutate into a form that is easily transferable among humans. Results are expected by Thursday.

Yushchenko visited the affected region on Monday and promised the government would compensate residents for their losses. He also announced a massive flu inoculation programme that would target more than 60,000 people.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said Tuesday that no cases of human infection have been recorded in Ukraine.