Brussels, 20/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday evening, the veterinary authorities of the Federation of Russia confirmed the presence of the bird flu virus H5N1 in the region of Tula, which is around 200 km south of Moscow. All poultry in the village of Yandovka has been killed and the carcasses destroyed, and the Russian authorities have certified that they have taken all measures required to avoid the propagation of the virus. The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, which held an all-day meeting on Thursday, approved the Commission's proposal in the morning to extend to the whole of Russia, with the exception of St Petersburg, the Murmansk region, Karelia and the enclave of Kaliningrad, measures banning imports of birds and feathers, which has already been in place for western Siberia since September. This decision will be formally adopted by the Commission under its emergency procedure. The discovery of this new outbreak confirms the progress of the virus H5N1 towards the east of Russia, whereas the tests carried out by the community reference laboratory (CRL) in the United Kingdom on Wednesday confirmed the existence of a second outbreak of the H5N1 virus in Maliuc, south-eastern Romania. Nonetheless, according to the Romanian Minister of agriculture, Gheorghe Flutur (quoted by AFP), there is no cause for concern as long as the virus has not crossed the Danube Delta, a region which is particularly exposed to the bird flu virus as it is one of the main transit areas from wild migratory birds coming from central Asia.
The Weybridge laboratory announced that it had received samples from Greece, and the first tests carried out came back negative for the H5 virus, "but at this stage, it is not possible to rule out the absence of the virus H5N1, and the precaution measures already taken will remain in place", said a Commission spokesperson. The CRL is to carry out further tests and the Commission has called upon the Greek authorities to send further samples.