HEALTH officials in western Siberia are to begin the slaughter of thousands of birds today after identifying Russia’s first outbreak of a bird flu strain that can be fatal in humans.

Doctors in neighbouring Kazakhstan have also confirmed that a 19-year-old poultry worker was admitted to hospital with symptoms of bird flu, only to be diagnosed with double pneumonia.

The H5N1 strain of avian flu has killed 60 people since 2003 in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, but has rarely been found in birds or humans outside Asia.

Health officials fear that H5N1 is infecting migrating birds, which could spread the virus into Europe. Earlier this year China registered the first outbreaks of H5N1 among wild birds, some of which migrate to breeding grounds in Siberia. These birds could come into contact with others flying to Europe and North America.

Russia’s outbreak began in the Novosibirsk region, about 1,750 miles (2,816km) east of Moscow in the Asian part of Russia, early last month, but the veterinary service identified the virus only last week. Valery Mikheyev, the chief sanitary doctor of Novosibirsk, said that teams had been collecting the dead birds and supervising the slaughter in 13 affected villages. He said: “The state of health of the inhabitants of these areas gives no cause for alarm. Up to 6,000 people are being checked per day.”

The virus seems to have hit only private farms that let poultry mix with wild birds. Further outbreaks were registered in the Omsk and Altai regions, but the strain had yet to be determined, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said.

Poultry farm workers have been ordered to wear protective clothing and undergo disinfection procedures to stop the virus spreading. Kommersant, the daily newspaper, reported that one poultry company in the province of Orenburg was preparing to shoot down migratory birds over its territory.

In the Kazakh province of Pavlodar, meanwhile, officials said that they had slaughtered 2,350 geese and 250 ducks after 600 poultry died from bird flu.

Aitmaganbet Zholshorinov, head of the department of epidemiology at the Ministry of Health, said that a poultry worker had been taken to hospital on Friday with suspected bird flu, but tests showed that he had double pneumonia.

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