The outbreak of bird flu in Ukraine has spread to at least 12 villages. Nine other areas, including the major cities of Simferopol and Feodosia on the Crimean peninsula, have reported mass bird deaths.

These areas of mass deaths have yet to be confirmed as the result of bird flu, and health officials are staying quiet until they receive laboratory confirmation.

Government officials state that more than 11,000 people have been vaccinated in the high-risk areas. The World Health Organization (WHO) also arrived to assess the situation and help stop any spread of the disease.

Last Friday, a Russian laboratory presented results confirming that the bird flu in Ukraine is the same strain of the H5N1 virus that killed birds in Asia. Ukrainian health officials are awaiting confirmation from a British laboratory on this matter.

Ukraine announced its first case of bird flu on Dec. 3, revealing that nearly 2,500 domestic fowl suddenly died in a marsh area on the Black Sea peninsula. More than 35,000 domestic fowl in the area were slaughtered as a preventive measure in response to the initial discovery.

There have been no reported cases of bird flu in humans in Ukraine, and more than 60,000 health examinations have been given to residents since the outbreak.

Experts fear the bird flu could mutate into a deadly human flu strain that is highly communicable. Since 2003, almost 70 people have been killed by the virus in Asia, most of them farmers who came into direct contact with dead birds with the virus.

© 2006 mydna.com