Russia Reports Outbreak of Avian Influenza

The World Organisation for Animal Health reported today, Wednesday, that Russia has detected an outbreak of the highly contagious H5N1 strain of avian influenza in a poultry farm in the western part of the country. The organization, based in Paris, cited a report from Russian authorities indicating that the outbreak was identified in the Republic of Tatarstan, resulting in the death of 17,800 birds out of a total of 195,503, with the remaining birds being culled.