Russian Bird Flu Outbreak Advances Toward Europe

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia cordoned off roads and slaughtered hundreds of birds on Monday to contain the advance of a bird flu epidemic toward Western Europe.

The outbreak, previously confined to five remote areas of Siberia, has now struck a major industrial region -- Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains, which separate Asia from Europe.

"All ill and infected birds are being slaughtered there," the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

It was unclear whether the virus found in Chelyabinsk is the deadly H5N1 strain that has killed more than 50 people in Asia since 2003 and has hit Russia's Siberia as well as neighbouring Kazakhstan and Mongolia since mid-July.

Carried by flocks of wild birds migrating from Siberia to warmer regions, the virus has been steadily moving westward through the regions of Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Omsk, Kurgan and Altai.

Chelyabinsk, separated from European Russia by the Ural Mountains and technically still in Siberia, is the westernmost region to have been struck so far.

It lies about 1,000 km (600 miles) from the region where the first flu outbreak was reported.

Although no humans have yet been affected, there are fears the disease could spread to humans on the Eurasian landmass, possibly unleashing a global influenza pandemic.

Media reported that roads leading to the village of Oktyabrskoye in Chelyabinsk have been cordoned off to prevent the virus from spreading further.

In other affected regions, police boosted road checks, and 400 domestic birds were culled in Chelyabinsk alone to block the virus that has killed more than 10,000 birds countrywide.

Officials said wild birds, increasingly active in August as they prepare to migrate ahead of winter, were to blame.

"Results of epizootic checks have shown that (migrant birds) are the main source of infection," Ria-Novosti news agency quoted an official with the Novosibirsk state consumer rights watchdog as saying.

There was no word on Monday on the situation in Kazakhstan and Mongolia where bird flu has also been registered along their sprawling borders with Russian Siberia.