- (Reuters) -- Russia has recorded its 1st cases this year
of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu in dead domestic birds,
the country's animal and plant health agency said on Monday [29 Jan 2007].
-
- Rosselkhoznadzor [The Russian agriculture inspection
agency. - Mod.AS] said in a statement the virus was detected in dead birds
found in 3 domestic yards in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia.
-
- "Yes, it's H5N1," a spokesman for the agency
said, when asked to confirm the strain of the virus.
-
- Rosselkhoznadzor said measures were being taken to prevent
the spread of infection in the 3 settlements where cases were found --
Labinsk, Upornaya and Borodinskaya.
-
- The agency said tests had been carried out in regional
laboratories and further tests would now be conducted in Moscow.
-
- Russia recorded more than 90 cases of bird flu last year.
Most were in southern regions, particularly the North Caucasus area that
borders Georgia and Azerbaijan. Several cases were also found in the Siberian
regions of Novosibirsk and Omsk.
-
- The outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza began in Asia in
2003 and outbreaks have been confirmed in about 50 countries and territories.
-
- Bird flu has killed 164 people from a total 270 cases
recorded in humans since 2003, World Health Organisation data shows. At
least 200 million birds have been culled worldwide.
-
- No human cases have ever been recorded in Russia. Five
people have died from 8 cases in neighbouring Azerbaijan.
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
|
