Third bird flu case suspected at farm near Moscow
Posted: 18 February 2007 0109 hrs

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MOSCOW - A third farm outside Moscow is suspected of being contaminated with the bird flu after 44 poultry were found dead, Russian veterinary authorities said Saturday.

There was no confirmation as to the cause of the outbreak at the farm in the city of Podolsk, forty kilometres (miles) south of the capital, as tests were still being conducted, said Alexei Alexeenko.

Two other outbreaks which occurred on Friday at farms near Odintsovo and Domodedovo -- two cities close to Moscow -- had been avian flu, he said.

Alexeenko added that it would be Sunday before tests at the two farms would show if the virus is the deadly H5N1 strain.

- AFP /ls