December 12, 2005

Ukraine confirms bird flu in two more Crimean villages

Ukraine has confirmed more bird flu cases in two additional villages in the Crimean region, officials said Friday.

There are now a total of eight affected villages--all located in marshlands on the Black Sea peninsula.

Ukraine recorded its first case of bird flu Saturday, and immediately declared three regions under a state of emergency and quarantine. More than 35,000 domestic fowl were killed in a mandatory cull, and 1,504 villagers were put under medical observation, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

Officials initially hoped the virus had been contained, but dead birds found in the villages of Dmitrovka and Akimovka tested positive for the H5 strain, Agriculture Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Horobets said. Both villages are located in regions already struck by bird flu.

Ukraine is waiting for results from a UK laboratory next week on whether the virus is the deadly H5N1 strain, which has killed at least 69 people in Asia and devastated bird flocks. Experts fear the strain could trigger a human pandemic if it mutates into a form easily passed between people.