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In a somewhat surprising announcement, more than 5000 people in areas around Moscow where infected birds have been detected are being tested, according to published reports. Additionally, quarantines have been put into place.
This appears to be a very aggressive campaign on the part of the Russians to contain this virus, and detect any possible human infection.
February 20, 2007
Villages sealed off as bird flu reaches outskirts of capital
Thousands of Russians were undergoing tests last night after an outbreak of bird flu at chicken farms on the outskirts of Moscow.
Health officials confirmed that chickens at two farms within 30 miles (49km) of the capital had died from the H5N1 strain of the virus. Dead birds suspected of being contaminated were also being tested at three other locations near Moscow.
“Medical monitoring is under way for 5,453 residents in the relevant areas, including 20 citizens who were in direct contact with the infected birds,” said Gennady Onishchenko, Russia’s chief epidemiologist. No illnesses had been reported among human beings so far, he said.
This is the first time that bird flu has been detected so close to Moscow, which is home to more than ten million people. Officials established quarantine zones around villages in affected areas and began bird vaccination programmes. Veterinary officials have established that the bird flu virus came from chickens bought at a Moscow bird market. More than 150 birds have died at private farms around the city in the past ten days.
“From the very beginning we have been taking safety measures, assuming that it was this strain, so the confirmation does not change anything,” said Nikolai Vlasov, director of veterinary inspection for Russia’s state agricultural agency.
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