Add a bird flu outbreak in Russia

Another Russian region, Tambov, 400 kilometers southeast of the capital, Moscow, has been confirmed to be affected by the H5N1 strain of bird flu, Reuters news agency reported.

A senior medical officer in the area said tests showed that the chickens were infected with the H5N1 virus. At least 2,400 chickens in this region have died or been killed by infection.

Meanwhile, a 24-hour news site said a new bird flu point has been discovered in the Altai region of southern Siberia in Russia. Avian influenza antibodies were found in blood samples from 59 dead birds at 7 farms in the village of Pokrovka.

Earlier, bird flu outbreaks were also discovered in the Urals (Chelyabinsk) area on Saturday and in Tula (300km south of Moscow) on Tuesday.

Migratory birds seem to have brought avian influenza virus to Siberia from Southeast Asia, leading the government to destroy hundreds of thousands of chickens and place affected areas under quarantine.

The EU has imposed a ban on the import of many birds from Romania, Russia, Thailand and Turkey, which have been confirmed affected by the H5N1 strain. The EU is also preparing to issue a similar ban on Croatia, where an outbreak of bird flu was announced on Friday.

T.VY (According to CNN, Bloomberg, 24h)