Russia ups the ante against bird flu yet again

As the avian bird flu virus continues its sweep across neighbouring Turkey, spreading panic in it's wake, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed his government to take measures to prevent a new outbreak of bird flu in Russia.

His actions follow the the deaths of three children from the virus in a poor rural area of eastern Turkey.

He says everything must be done to avoid another outbreak and has promised senior officials prompt additional funding if it is needed.

According to Russia's chief state epidemiologist Gennady Onishchenko, doctors at airports and railway stations have started examining people arriving from Turkey.

Onishchenko has reportedly already advised Russians to avoid travelling to Turkey.

Turkish officials confirmed on Tuesday that 15 people had been infected with bird flu, and more than 70 people suspected of having the virus are undergoing tests.

To date the World Health Organisation says there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus, but experts have long feared the H5N1 strain could mutate enough to pass easily from person to person and create a pandemic which would kill millions.

Prior to the outbreak in Turkey, of the 76 people since late 2003 who have died from the virus, all the victims have been in east Asia.

The Russians have been fighting bird flu in poultry since July, and have culled more than 600,000 domestic fowl.

So far the virus has been confined to eight Russian regions from Siberia to European Russia, and no case of human infection has been registered in Russia.

Authorities were achieving some success, as by the end of December, quarantine restrictions were able to be lifted from all but two locations, one in Astrakhan region and the other in Kalmykia, both located on the Caspian sea.