Russia confirms H5N1 bird flu strain at poultry farm

MOSCOW, Sep 4 (Reuters) Russia today reported its third outbreak this year of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu after 410 birds died on a poultry farm in the country's south.

Another 414 birds were culled and strict quarantine measures were in place at the farm in Krasnodar region, Russia's animal and plant health watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, said in a statement.

''It's serious enough to bring in strict measures, including quarantine, to make sure it doesn't spread,'' Rosselkhoznadzor spokesman Alexei Alexeyenko said.

''An investigation is being carried out to determine the source of the infection,'' he said.

Tests carried out in regional laboratories confirmed the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain was responsible for the deaths of birds at the Lebyazhye-Chepiginskoye farm, in the same region where the virus was detected in dead domestic birds in January.

Russia's second outbreak of 2007 occurred in February, when several cases in towns around Moscow were traced to the capital's best-known pet market.

Bird flu has killed 193 people worldwide out of 320 known human cases since it re-emerged in Hong Kong in 2003. Most of the deaths have occurred in Asia and no human cases have ever been reported in Russia.

The H5N1 strain of the virus is mainly transmitted between birds. Most human cases can be traced to direct or indirect contact with infected birds.

Experts fear, however, that the virus could change into a form easily transmitted from person to person.

REUTERS PD HT1439