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Russia to Vaccinate Domestic Birds, Human Avian Flu Vaccine Expected in April

Posted on: Thursday, 12 January 2006, 09:00 CST

Excerpt from report by Russian Channel One TV on 12 January

[Passage omitted]

[Correspondent] The State Duma Council has discussed another topical matter, the fight against avian flu. The chief medical officer, Gennadiy Onishchenko, has arrived at Okhotnyy Ryad [State Duma premises]. MPs had a great many proposals for the prevention of this disease. It is not yet known whether Vladimir Zhirinovskiy [State Duma deputy speaker and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia] has put forward his idea: to shoot down all migratory birds.

Gennadiy Onishchenko told us important news: this spring birds will not be shot, but will be vaccinated.

[Correspondent, addressing Onishchenko] In China, domestic birds are vaccinated. Do we have such vaccines?

[Onishchenko] The veterinary services of our country that are part of the Agriculture Ministry are currently producing a vaccine for animals. The following tactic will be used. Domestic birds will be vaccinated. We are talking about 100m doses of the vaccine to vaccinate domestic birds in the centres of outbreaks, i.e., in Siberia, the Urals region and along the [migratory] route on the territory of the European part of our country.

[Correspondent] It has also emerged that funding for preventive measures against avian flu will be increased. The figure is not yet known. The next time the State Duma will go back to the discussion of the issue is in February. Olga, over to you. [Passage omitted]

[Presenter] Russian scientists are currently finishing work on the avian flu vaccine for humans. According to their forecast, series production of it can already be started in April. This has been announced by the director of the Scientific Research Institute of Flu of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Oleg Kiselev.

[Kiselev, addressing news conference] This vaccine will be used in groups of professional risk, i.e., people working with birds, involved in the production of poultry meat, etc., and also [groups] of geographic risk, i.e., people living in certain geographic areas that had outbreaks of avian flu among wild and domestic birds.

Source: BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union

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