http://freeserve.advfn.com/news_Sta...rd-flu-outbreak-in-south-Russia_14398333.html State of emergency after mass bird flu outbreak in south Russia MOSCOW, Feb.28 (AFX): A local state of emergency has been declared in a region in southern Russia following a mass outbreak of bird flu at a poultry farm there, authorities said. The move came after Russia's emergency situations ministry said 20,000 head of poultry had died on the farm in the past 24 hours and a total of more than 103,000 birds had died in the past week as a result of infection with bird flu. Contacted by Agence France Presse, a spokesman for the local branch of the emergency situations ministry in the southern city of Krasnodar said that the birds had been infected with the H5 bird flu virus. Tests however were still under way to determine whether this was the H5N1 strain that can be harmful to humans, the spokesman said. The state of emergency was declared in the district of the Krasnodar region where the poultry farm was located and strict sanitary measures were being implemented to ensure that the virus did not spread further. If confirmed that the poultry died as a result of infection with the H5N1 virus, it would mark one of the largest isolated outbreaks of the deadly bird flu virus registered to date. The declaration of a state of emergency came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of a government crisis centre to deal with bird flu after three outbreaks of the virus strain were reported in southern Russia this month. Read this article in full at Wanadoo
