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Ukraine: bird flu found in Crimea
According to Interfax-Ukraine news agency, the H5 subtype of bird flu virus has been detected in two rural districts of Crimea - Sovietsky and Nizhnegorsky, the new agency informed with reference to Agrarian Policy Ministry.
The virus has been identified by a DNA method in the hens and geese in the villages of Nekrasovka and Sovietskoye of Sovietsky Raion and Izobilnoye and Yemelyanovka of Nizhnegorsky Raion, the ministry's press service informed on Saturday.
It has been reported that in the three districts of Crimea - Sovietsky, Nizhnegorsky and Jankoy - over 1,500 heads of poultry died. The ministry's press-service said that the samples from the affected settlements would be directed to reference laboratories in the UK and Italy for confirmation of diagnosis.
State Department for Veterinary Medicine of Ukraine said that in the settlements where bird flu had been detected all domestic poultry would be slaughtered. The people who have been in contact with the ill birds will be placed under observation.
The minister Olexandr Baranivsky has directed to Crimea a crisis group of scientists to control the situation and prevent the spread of disease.