Russia Reports Bird Flu Dangerous to Humans Spreading Towards Europe

MosNews | August 16, 2005

Russia, which has been striving to stop the spread of deadly bird flu across its territory, said an outbreak in Chelyabinsk was dangerous to humans, Reuters reported Tuesday.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu is behind the outbreak in Chelyabinsk, a city in the Ural mountains, the Emergencies Ministry said in a statement, adding that 497 birds had died over the past 24 hours. The strain is the same one that has killed dozens of people in Asia and many millions of poultry.

Russia says migrating birds may export the virus to Europe and the Middle East (MosNews)

The bird flu was first reported in Russia’s Novosibirsk Region in July. In three weeks it spread over neighboring Tyumen, Omsk and Kurgan regions as well as Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Initial reports said that the disease was caused by the strain of the virus potentially dangerous to humans but no one has been diagnosed with the disease in Russia so far.