KALININGRAD, February 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's veterinary authorities are prepared to address possible outbreaks of avian influenza in spring as wild birds will migrate back to Russia from regions hit by bird flu, the Russian agriculture minister said Sunday.
Alexei Gordeyev currently on a trip to the city of Kaliningrad, Russia's enclave within the European Union, said the ministry had forecasted outbreaks of bird flu in spring and had taken relevant measures to prevent it from spreading.
"We will vaccinate all domestic fowl in the nearest future," the minister said.
Late in 2005 the Russian Poultry Farming Union assessed the country's direct losses from the bird flu outbreak in Russia at about 12 million rubles ($420,000), and indirect losses at about 110 million rubles ($3.9 million). Over 12,000 birds have died in the Urals and Siberia, and another 144,000 were killed to prevent the disease from spreading.
