Ukraine Confirms Deadly Bird-Flu Strain In Crimea
December 14, 2005
14 December 2005 -- Ukraine's Health Ministry confirmed that the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu had been found in its Crimea Peninsula.
A statement said laboratory tests confirmed the H5N1 strain was present in 11 out of the 25 villages in the Black Sea peninsula where bird flu deaths have been recorded. It was not clear where the laboratory tests had been carried out.
Ukraine registered its first bird flu outbreak on 3 December. So far, outbreaks of the disease and mass deaths of birds have been confined to Crimea. There have been no recorded cases of human infections.
The H5N1 virus has killed at least 69 people in Asia since 2003.
(AP/RIA-Novosti)