Thousands Quarantined in Bucharast Over Bird Flu Fears

Posted on May 24, 2006

Romania has ordered an aggressive quarantine of several communities after bird flu was discovered in Bucharest, the country's capital. The quarantine includes sealing off streets for as long as three weeks.

About 13 000 people were quarantined in the Romanian capital on Monday as troops and police sealed off streets in response to the city's second bird-flu outbreak, said officials.

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 on Monday 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.

Inimaroiu said, urging residents to stay calm, that "about 40 streets have been blocked" in the Luica quarter.

Another article discusses the quarantine but it also does not mention any sick people. The quarantine would make more sense if there were human cases but there do not appear to be any that have been reported. Maybe the Romanian government just wants to eradicate all the sick birds as fast as possible and then they will reopen the city again.


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