ROSTOV-ON-DON, February 27 (RIA Novosti, Sergei Rudkovsky) - More than 39,000 chickens have died at a poultry farm in the Krasnodar Territory in southern Russia during the past 24 hours.

A total of 83,000 birds have died so far, a source in the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

"Tests conducted by a Krasnodar veterinary laboratory suggest that the deaths have been caused by Newcastle Disease [pseudo-plague]," the official said.

"The pathogenic material has been sent to a scientific research institute in the city of Vladimir [about 100km northeast of Moscow] for confirmation," he said.

Newcastle Disease (END) is one of the most infectious diseases that affect poultry and is so virulent that many birds die without showing any clinical signs. A death rate of almost 100% can occur in unvaccinated poultry, and the disease can even infect and kill vaccinated poultry.