MOSCOW, Oct. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phitosanitary Inspection (Rosselkhoznadzor) said on Monday that only one farm in the country was suffering the bird flu virus.
The quarantine was still effective at the Utyatskaya poultry farm in Kurgan region in southern Siberia while relevant restrictions have been lifted in the Altai territory and Chelyabinsk, Omsk and Tyumen regions that had been stricken by thedisease, Itar-Tass news agency quoted Rosselkhoznadzor as saying.
The outbreak at the Utyatskaya farm was the first to be recorded in the region just east of the Ural Mountains. The farm, providing 40 percent of eggs in regional markets, stopped sales onSept. 28 when the first birds died.
More than one-fifth of the farm's 460,000 birds have died and authorities will slaughter the rest to stem the spread of the bird flu virus.
The culling at the farm will be completed on Wednesday, head ofthe regional veterinary department Nikolai Petrenko told Itar-Tass.
"Initial attempts to save at least part of the bird population were unavailing as tests confirmed the presence of virus carriers in all the 14 yards of the farm," Petrenko said.
Some parts of Russia have been badly hit by avian flu since July, and the outbreak now appears to be petering out with the departure of migratory birds ahead of winter.
Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev said Wednesday the situation has stabilized but preventive measures were still needed. Enditem
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