Bird flu 'stabilising' in Russia

More than 120,000 birds have been culled in Russia

The bird flu situation is stabilising in Russia with the exception of the Siberian region of Tyumen where 40 birds died on Monday, officials say.

No birds have died in several other affected regions of Siberia while one bird death was reported in the Urals.

Fearing the spread of the virus westwards, the Netherlands banned its farmers from keeping fowl outdoors.

The European Union is to hold talks on Thursday but is unlikely to follow the Dutch example, experts say.

"We are following the situation closely, but we are not being alarmist," European Commission spokesman Philip Tod said. "Our analysis is that the risk is low.

"Not every member state shares the Dutch government's view of the risk," he added.

Germany said it might adopt similar precautions, following the Dutch announcement on Monday.

'No human cases'

Russia's emergencies ministry said bird flu had stabilised in nearly all the affected regions apart from Tyumen, local news agency Itar-Tass reports.

More than 120,000 birds have been culled in an attempt to curb the spreading of the virus.

Russian doctors suspect that migratory birds brought the virus to Siberia from South-East Asia.

The strain found in several regions in Siberia has been identified as H5N1 - the type that has killed at least 57 people in Asia in 2003.

Russian officials say there have been "no cases of sickness among the human population".

There are fears of a global pandemic stemming from the H5N1 type, if it mutates into a form which could spread easily from human to human.

Most of those who have died in Asia are believed to have contracted the virus directly from birds.