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H5 Wild Bird Flu Confirmed in Crimea Peninsula of Ukraine
Recombinomics Commentary
December 3, 2005
An H5 sub-type of bird flu was discovered in chickens and geese in the villages of Nekrasovka and Sovetskoye in the Sovetsky district and in the villages of Izobilnoye and Emelyanovka in the Nizhnegorsky district.
Samples will be sent for examination to special laboratories in Britain or Italy, the ministry's press service said.
Mass death amongst poultry of all kinds was recorded in villages in the Sovetsky, Nizhnegorsky, and Dzhankoi districts of the Crimea on Friday. A total of 1,500 birds have died.
The above comments indicate H5N1 has infected poultry in the Ukraine, another European country bordering the Black Sea. Although reports thus far have just identified H5 as the subtype, the widespread death of poultry, including ducks and geese leaves little doubt that the typing will identify HPAI H5N1 wild bird flu. Most waterfowl is resistant to avian influenza, but the H5N1 in migratory birds has acquired the ability to kill waterfowl in addition to terrerstial birds.
Recent outbreaks have also been reported in the Danube and Volga Deltas (see map) signaling more migration and spread of H5N1. It is likely that more countries bordering the Black and Caspian seas will soon be reporting additional H5N1 outbreaks.
Map
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