Strain of China bird flu virus delivered to Russia

A strain of H7N9 bird flu, which has killed over 30 people in China, has been delivered to Russia, Gennady Onishchenko, head of the consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor and Russia's chief epidemiologist, said.

"We have received the strain and have already started to work with it," he said.
The research is being conducted by Rospotrebnadzor's Vektor State Scientific Center of Virology and Biotechnologies in Novosibirsk, he said, RIA reports.

"We will examine its qualities. It is highly important for us. We will have a chance to prepare a strain to make a vaccine. There is a whole action plan regarding this strain. We will put it into practice. The most important thing is that we have this strain. All countries are developing a vaccine. The question is which country will develop it sooner than others," Onishchenko said.