# 1391
This article refers to this being the 3rd outbreak this year in Russia. Obviously they are counting by region, not by individual locations.
New outbreak of bird flu hits south Russia
17:54
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20/ 12/ 2007
ROSTOV-ON-DON, December 20 (RIA Novosti) - A third outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus has occurred in south Russia, regional veterinary officials said on Thursday.
The fresh outbreak of avian influenza took place in the Rostov Region, in the village of Shosseiny, some 10 km (6 miles) from the poultry farm where the first case of bird flu was registered in the region in late November.
"37 dead poultry were found, following which the entire population of 50 birds was culled," the officials said.
Birds started dying at the Gulyai-Borisovskaya poultry farm in the Rostov Region on November 29, and an analysis showed traces of the lethal H5N1 strain. The farm's entire population of 500,000 chickens has since been culled. A bird flu outbreak was later registered at private subsidiary holdings located close to the farm.
A second bird flu outbreak in the Rostov Region was later registered at a private farm in the Tselinsky district.
The outbreak in the Rostov Region is the third this year in Russia. The Krasnodar Territory, which is on the route taken by migrating birds in winter, was hit by the H5N1 strain in September, and a total of 230,000 birds were culled.
In February, dead poultry with traces of the lethal virus were found in Moscow, eight districts of the Moscow Region and a district in the Kaluga Region. All cases were traced to a single market in southwest Moscow.
The virus, which was first isolated in humans in 1997, has been spreading rapidly, resulting in the deaths and culling of millions of birds, and a human death toll of over 200.
Although the virus has so far been mainly restricted to animals, many scientists fear that it could mutate into a form transmissible between humans, unleashing a catastrophic global pandemic similar to the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918 that killed millions around the world.
