MOSCOW, November 4 (RIA Novosti) - The bird flu virus in Russia is not likely to mutate, and it is unlikely to be passed on to humans, the head of a veterinary watchdog said Thursday.
Ivan Rozhdestvensky, head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight's veterinary watchdog, said that although there is a possibility of new strains of the virus appearing that could make it dangerous to humans, a whole range of conditions are needed for this which are not currently present.
"The H5N1 virus has been well-known for more than seven years. It multiplies in the epithelium of a bird's digestive tract. It cannot therefore be passed on by respiratory means, but only through the alimentary route, when a bird eats or drinks," he said.
All poultry products sold in shops, markets, and restaurants, come from factories, where so far no avian flu virus has been found.
"Since the beginning of the year, we have conducted more than 246 laboratory tests of specimens taken from areas with bird flu outbreaks or from places where the presence of the virus was suspected," Rozhdestvensky said.
Experts are monitoring the geographical spread of the virus. "We need to know where a bird flew to and when it will return," he said, adding that avian flu is a problem for the whole world, not just for Russia.
