News - RIA Novosti - World - Dangerous H5N1 bird flu strain found in Crimea

KIEV, December 8 (RIA Novosti) - The dangerous H5N1 bird flu strain, which has led to fatalities in Asia, has been discovered in the Crimea, the Black Sea autonomy, Vyacheslav German, an official with the Ukrainian Ministry of Agricultural Policy, said Thursday.

Petro Verbitskiy, a member of the government commission investigating the outbreak, said tests done in a Russian laboratory had proved the findings and that the final results of the investigation could be expected soon.

Ukraine also sent dead birds to a British laboratory for analysis.

The Ukrainian leadership recently imposed a state of emergency in the Crimea. Poultry imports from the area were banned and mass vaccinations of the population are under way.

RIA Novosti - World - Dangerous H5N1 bird flu strain found in Crimea