RIA Novosti - Russia - 500,000 birds killed by bird flu in southern Russia in Feb.

RIA Novosti - Russia - 500,000 birds killed by bird flu in southern Russia in Feb.

500,000 birds killed by bird flu in southern Russia in Feb.
12:39 | 01/ 03/ 2006


MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) - About half a million birds died of bird flu in February in southern Russia, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday.

"The third wave of the disease swept the country starting February 3 and is still ongoing," a ministry spokesman said. "About 500,000 birds have died from a virus which lab research identified as bird flu since the pandemic broke out, and more than 215,000 birds have been culled."

Over 1.3 million birds have died or been slaughtered in three outbreaks of bird flu since July 2005, or over 44,000 every day, the ministry said. This includes more than 416,000 birds, or about 17,500 every day, that died from the virus.

Bird flu has hit six regions in southern Russia: the republics of Kabardino-Balkaria, Daghestan, Chechnya and Kalmykia, and the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories.

Wild swans were among the victims in Chechnya and Kabardino-Balkaria. The head of Chechnya's veterinary service said earlier he expected vaccines to arrive in the region after March 20, and the region's poultry to be vaccinated in the following two weeks.

Southern Russia is especially vulnerable to bird flu as it is a major stopover area for migrating birds.

No human cases have been registered, the ministry said.