ASTANA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The number of bird deaths in a Russian bird flu epidemic jumped sharply on Wednesday, and neighbouring Kazakhstan confirmed a fowl virus found in the Central Asian state could kill humans.
Officials said no humans had been infected so far, but the highly potent H5N1 strain has killed over 50 people in Asia since 2003, and outbreaks in the ex-Soviet bloc raised fears the virus could infect humans and trigger a global epidemic.
