BUCHAREST (AFX) - Some 13,000 people were quarantined in a quarter of the
Romanian capital Bucharest as troops and police sealed off streets in response
to the city's second bird flu outbreak, officials said.
    The mayor of the southern fourth district, Adrian Inimaroiu, said residents
would be cut off and all businesses in the area would be closed during the
quarantine period of up to three weeks.
    The move came after the agriculture ministry earlier today confirmed the
presence of the H5 bird flu virus in dead chickens found in the neighbourhood,
the latest of dozens of outbreaks of avian flu in Romania this spring.
    "About 40 streets have been blocked" in the Luica quarter, Inimaroiu said,
urging residents to stay calm.
    He said the quarantine would last for a "period of a week to 21 days and all
the institutions in this quarter will be closed".
    "About 2,500 birds from this area will be slaughtered as rapidly as
possible," the mayor said.
    Police and troops were seen on the streets of the district this afternoon.
    Tests conducted at the European reference laboratory in Weybridge, England,
have confirmed the presence of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of the virus
in seven samples taken from central Brasov county, including one from an
industrial farm that was the source of the latest spread of the disease.
    Authorities say it is still unclear whether the virus found in Bucharest
originated from this location.
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