MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti) - A senior Russian health official said Monday that a bird flu pandemic among humans could be prevented by cautionary measures and imposing a quarantine.
"Even if a pandemic strain appears, it would be possible to minimize effects of its spreading among humans with preventive measures," Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's Chief State Doctor and the head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare said.
He said certain measures could minimize the effects of a bird flu pandemic several dozen times over.
Onishchenko said a vaccine against the avian flu virus strain that could be passed on to humans had yet to be developed.
"As soon as a strain that causes the disease among humans appears, it would take at least half a year to develop a vaccine on its basis," he said.
