Dead birds being tested for H5N1 in two districts near Moscow

Overall, at least 190 domestic birds have died since Feb. 10 on the outskirts of Moscow, and the presence of H5N1 so far has been confirmed in four areas, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said in a statement.

An additional 75 birds were found dead Tuesday in the town of Ramenskoye east of Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported, citing regional veterinary officials.

Another 20 poultry deaths were registered in the village of Yershovskoye in the western Odintsovo region and seven birds died in the village of Solodovo in the northwestern Volokolamsk region, said Nikolai Vlasov, a top official with the federal agriculture oversight agency Rosselkhoznadzor, according to RIA Novosti news agency.

Vlasov said it would take a few days to identify the cause of the poultry deaths, but added that the birds which died had been purchased at the same animal market just outside Moscow that has been the source of birds infected with H5N1 in other districts around the capital. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/