December 12, 2012

Russia southern region hit by deadly bird flu

Russia's southern Krasnodar Krai region has been hit by a deadly bird flu which has killed 4,000 wild birds.

"It has already been confirmed that the birds in the area have died from bird flu, of the H5N1 type, which is dangerous to humans. This is very serious," said the governor of the region, Alexander Tkachev.

The government of Krasnodar Krai has introduced a state of emergency on the territory of the whole region. All poultry farms have been transferred to the closed operating mode. Following detection of the disease, vaccines for the virus were delivered urgently to the region and 98% of the poultry population was vaccinated within 24 hours.

Russian veterinary watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, said that there remained a large possibility that outbreaks of the virus would be found on poultry farms, and that veterinary specialists would conduct emergency inspections of all farms in the region.