Bird flu outbreak spreads in Russia

Russian officials said that Ural bird flu outbreak is spreading despite the efforts to localize the decease. The H5N1 strain of bird flu that kills poultry in Russian Siberian regions is not dangerous to citizens as no cases among humans have been confirmed, the Emergencies Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry also said: "Anti-epizootic and anti-epidemical measures are being taken to prevent the spreading of the infection among domestic birds and to exclude the possibility of the infection moving to humans."

As many as 11,000 Russian birds have died from the disease, according to the Ministry, but it says that so far, there have been no cases of human infection in the country.

Earlier this month, Russia issued a warning that migrating birds could carry the disease into the rest of Europe. It is thought that birds journeying from Asia first brought the virus into Siberia.

In Asia, more than 50 people have died from the virus since 2003, reminds the Register.