UROZHAYNOE, Ukraine (AP):
GOVERNMENT EFFORTS to stem the outbreak of bird flu on Ukraine's Crimean peninsula are running into trouble, as poor villagers refuse to hand over their birds to be killed and question laboratory results that say a deadly strain of the flu has landed here.
In the village of Urozhaynoe, Alina Ametov, 78, hid her four hens in a shed. Some of her neighbours took even more drastic action: chasing Ukrainian officials away with pitchforks.
"Why should I give my hens to the authorities? I'm not scared," Ametov said yesterday. "I need to have food in the winter. I want to survive."
RECORDED FIRST CASE DEC 3
Ukraine recorded its first case of bird flu on December 3, when about 2,500 birds died on the Black Sea peninsula. On Wednesday, the Health Ministry confirmed that the H5N1 strain, which has decimated flocks in Asia and killed humans, was recorded in 11 Crimean villages, and that birds were dying in another 14.
The Veterinary Department said yesterday that bird flu strain H5 had been confirmed now in 12 villages in four Crimean regions; officials could not explain the discrepancy.
Yesterday, an old, decrepit bus stood on the outskirts of the Urozhaynoe region, the word 'quarantine' written in red across it. Inside villages, emergency workers - some in special suits, others in military camouflage - went door-to-door, asking residents if they had any birds.
RIGHT TO REFUSE
"People are hiding birds, refusing to give them to us," said Andriy Tkachenko, an emergency official. "Some even take pitchforks and chase us out."
He complained that villagers have the right to refuse to relinquish their fowl; all they have to do is sign a form acknowledging that they've been warned.
The rules were not consistent, however; in the village of Nekrasovka, one of the first hit by the outbreak, authorities were enforcing a mandatory cull, residents said.
In Urozhaynoe - a village criss-crossed with dirt roads, and dotted with small, one-storey homes - the ground was bird-free; wild birds filled the sky, however.
Villagers insisted that their birds were healthy and accused the Government of mixing up test results in the laboratory. Officials denied that.
Varvara Renesova, 72, said she has 20 birds and doesn't want to give them up.
"I have not slept for two nights," she said, tears running down her face. "I don't know what to do."
The Emergency Situations Ministry said it had culled 56,322 birds as of Thursday, completing the work in seven villages. Authorities have paid 1.18 million hryvna ($234,000, euro195,000) in compensation, the ministry said.
Maria Pugachova, 50, received 350 hryvna ($69, euro58) for her hens, but worried that it wouldn't be enough to buy chickens in the spring. Despite misgivings, she said she had no choice but to surrender her 17 birds. She has an infant grandson and didn't want to take any chances.
Most Ukrainian villagers keep fowl, which they depend on for eggs and meat to get them through the long, cold winters. The chickens, ducks and turkeys traditionally have free run of the village courtyards.
Veterinary experts have said that the virus was brought by migratory birds, and they fear it will spread in the spring when the birds fly north.
Besides the cull, authorities were disinfecting courtyards and had set up roadblocks to disinfect vehicles leaving the quarantine zone. Residents were also being given flu shots.
International experts fear the H5N1 strain of bird flu could trigger a human flu pandemic if it mutates into a form that is easily spread between people. Since 2003, the virus has killed at least 71 people in Asia _ most of them farm workers who came into close contact with infected birds.
No cases of human infection have been recorded in Ukraine, health and emergency officials said.
