Outbreaks of Bird Flu Subside in Russia — Health Ministry

MosNews
Nov. 30, 2005

Outbreaks of bird flu have subsided in Russia and the virus is now known to be present in only two locations in the country, a sharp decrease from the 10 zones that were affected a month ago.

“As of November 29, there are still two areas on the territory of the Russian Federation affected by bird flu,” the health ministry said in a statement, quoted by the AFP news agency.

One was in the region of Kurgan about 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles) southeast of Moscow and the other in the Astrakhan region 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) south of the capital on the edge of the Caspian Sea, the ministry said in the statement posted on its Internet website.

Authorities said that on Nov. 1 outbreaks of bird flu, believed to have been transmitted by birds migrating westwards from areas near the border with China, had been detected at 10 different locations in Russia. Measures ranging from confinement to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of fowl were taken in several countries where the virus was detected in recent weeks.