Russian sanitary services take urgent measures to create bird flu vaccine

[lovuian]

http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/385/16017_birdflu.html

The situation in Russia in connection with birds' epizootic, caused by the virus, remains stable

The Russian Federal Service for Protection of Consumers and Human Welfare is taking measures to create the special influenza A (H5N1) or the bird flu vaccine.

The head of the service, Gennady Onischenko, reported on Thursday that the special meeting of the experts on development of the vaccine had been held. "It was decided to prepare experimental samples of vaccine from the strain obtained form the reference laboratory of the World Health Organization (WHO) and certified there. This is done in order to study the possible application for treatment of patients", Onischenko said.

He also said that "there are plans to study immunogenic properties of AH5N1 virus strains, received in Novosibirsk region", Interfax reports.

According to the federal service, the epidemic situation in Russia in connection with birds' epizootic, caused by the virus, remains stable. There are no cases among people, the head of the service reported.

In his words at the moment the habitat where the bird flu epizootic is spread includes seven Russian regions: Cheliabinsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tumen, Kurgan, Altai and Kalmykiya Republic.

Onischenko said that in Novosibirsk region particularly out of 27 of places where the birds' plague was registered there are two left, where it still goes on. In Cheliabinsk region, plague was registered in three villages. In Omsk region the number of places where the plague was registered changed from 12 to two since yesterday.

In Kalmykiya Republic the die-off of wild waterfowl was registered at the "Yuzhniy" game reserve and a hunter's household informed of the die-off of several geese. At the same time the head of the service reported, "There is no mass die-off of the wild waterfowl." "People who live at the game reserve (five people) and in the nearest village (50 people) are under medical supervision. Virological research of the dead birds' material is conducted," Onischenko emphasized.

The bird flu outburst in Russia destroyed 113 thousand birds by 17 August, The Federal Veterinary and Phitosanitary Service (Rosselhoznadzor) reports
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113,000 birds how horrible!!!

[mom cat]

1. The Russians seem to care more about their population than the US!

[newswolf56]

3. Indeed. The difference is that even in post-Soviet Russia...

health care is officially regarded as a right -- same as in the rest of Europe. Ditto Canada and all of industrialized Asia. This is in decided and grotesque contrast to the United States, the only industrialized nation on the planet that officially regards health care as a privilege to which one is guaranteed access only by income.

[mike_c]

2. well, the good news is that there are fewer shared hosts in Russia...

...than in SE Asia, especially pigs. The pandemic could still come out of Russia or even Europe, but SE Asia is more likely, IMO.