Low pathogenic H5 in Ukraine

Bird flu hits eastern Ukraine -1
		13:20 | 04/ 09/ 2006

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KIEV, September 4 (RIA Novosti) - Bird flu has been discovered in the Poltava Region in eastern Ukraine, local television said Monday.

"Epidemiologists have found the H5 strain in the blood of wild ducks in Poltava," Channel Five said.

Poltava is located 330 kilometers (205 miles) southeast of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

The H5 strain of the virus is considered to be less dangerous than the H5N1 sub-strain that has already claimed dozens of human lives across the world.

The local administration has banned the hunting of wild migratory birds.

The first cases of bird flu were discovered in Ukraine late last year in the Black Sea autonomy of Crimea. The authorities introduced a state of emergency on the peninsula. No human cases were registered.