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Ten ducks and hens died of bird flu in the village of Vozdvizhenka, Ussurisky County, on April 7, the virus infection being confirmed by Russia’s Central Reference Bird Flu Laboratory on Monday.

“The birds died of the influenza A virus, most dangerous subtype H5N1,” a statement from Primorye’s department of federal animal and plant health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor cited vice-head Vitaly Salenko as saying.

The poultry belonged to a private household whose owner fed his birds with the entrails of a wild migrating bird he had hunted. When the deaths occurred, the veterinary service immediately launched a study into the case and took tests for laboratory research.

The remaining 42 poultry birds at the household had to be eliminated and no new cases of bird deaths have been registered so far, a statement from Rosselkhoznadzor said.

The bird owner was hospitalized and put under medical supervision for the duration of the virus incubation period but has not shown any signs of a virus infection.

Currently, all necessary quarantine actions are being taken in the village, with the 21-day quarantine imposed. Entry into Vozdvizhenka is restricted during this time period.

The condition of the poultry birds in the village currently shows no alarming signs and it is possible that the infection did not spread beyond that single household, the statement said. The veterinary specialists are disinfecting and vaccinating birds in private households.

On April 12, an intensified monitoring program of the spread of the virus among wild migrant birds was started in Primorye, with the Institute for Animal Protection of Rosselkhoznadzor, Central Veterinary Laboratory and Institute for Virus Studies of Russia’s Medical Science Academy involved.

The region’s administration temporarily banned spring hunting of waterfowl and other wild birds currently migrating from South Asian countries to Russia, a statement from Primorye’s veterinary service reported.