MOSCOW, February 22 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Agriculture Ministry is planning poultry vaccination campaigns in areas crossed by migratory birds, the agriculture minister said Tuesday
Addressing the upper house of parliament, Alexei Gordeyev said, "We are planning to vaccinate all domestic poultry in areas identified by experts."
"We will thus fulfill a twofold task - protect the industrial sector and, by ensuring the safety of foodstuffs, guarantee human safety. We have a comprehensive plan of action, and are working to keep the situation under control," he said.
The minister said there were sufficient supplies of bird flu vaccine.
Three vaccines were developed last year to combat the spread of bird flu following outbreaks in Russia's European part, Siberia and the Ural Mountains. The virus affected domestic poultry and wild fowl, but no human cases were reported.
At least 100 million doses were to be purchased to vaccinate birds against the deadly virus in private farms and zoos located in high-risk areas.
Earlier, Eduard Dzhavadov, director head of Russia's poultry veterinary research institute, said Russian authorities could prevent an outbreak of bird flu in the country if they started to vaccinate domestic poultry from as early as March.
