Abkhazia Denies Bird Flu Outbreak
The state veterinary service of breakaway Abkhazia denied Georgian media reports that the bird flue virus was detected in the breakaway region, Apsnipress news agency reported on February 1.
Tbilisi-based Rustavi 2 television reported on January 31 that it obtained ?exclusive material confirming the outbreak of bird flu in Abkhazia.? Rustavi 2 broadcasted footage showing a seaside with dead birds along the shore along with interviews with unknown persons in masks. A reporter said that they were local residents in Abkhazia who preferred to remain anonymous and who claimed that the local authorities in Abkhazia had been concealing information about bird flu for a week already.
?We have no official confirmation that the H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus was really detected in Abkhazia. But we have offered the Abkhaz side our assistance anyway,? Davit Tkeshelashvili, the Georgian Minister of Environment, said on February 1.
The Abkhaz veterinary service said on February 1 that authorities are carrying out all necessary measures to prevent an outbreak of the bird flu virus in the breakaway region.
?As for the Georgian-Abkhaz border, the import of poultry through this section has been banned since the beginning of last year after a bird flu outbreak was reported in Georgia,? according to Apsnipress.
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