MOSCOW, Aug. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- An outbreak of bird flu virus was confirmed in a village in the south of Tyumen after massive poultry die-off in Siberia and Altai territory, a senior official from the regional department of the agro-industrial complex said on Tuesday.

    "The situation is serious," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted senior official Mikhail Poberezhny as saying.

    He said the Tyumen region's veterinary service had launched large-scale checks at all poultry farms.

    The H5N1 strain of bird flu that can fatally infect humans has been already confirmed in the Novosibirsk and Altai regions for the past two weeks.

    The Tyumen region has been quarantined. Although no new cases of poultry deaths from bird flu have been registered, the Ministry for Emergency Situations and veterinary services are closely monitoring the situation.

    The outbreak in Altai region killed 210 fowl and the region hasbecome a hotbed for the spread of the infection, according to the Itar-Tass.

    The veterinary services have disinfected the farms with registered bird flu cases.

    Specialists believe that bird flu has been brought to the region by migrating wild birds, the report said. Enditem