KHUJAND, September 15, 2010, Asia-Plus  --  Equipment to identify all strains of influenza has been installed and the laboratory is ready for operation, Nasib Ikromov, the deputy head of the Sughd Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision, said I an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, the equipment can also be sued to detect the highly pathogenic avian flu (H5N1).  “A group of specialists from our center will go to Moscow in the near future to take the training course on operating the equipment, and on their return from Moscow, the laboratory will be introduced into operation,” Ikromov said, noting that at present suspect blood samples are being sent to Dushanbe for testing.

No cases of avian flu have been detected in Sughd province so far.

Over the first eight months of this year, 61,124 cases of acute respiratory diseases, 1,817 cases of seasonal flu and 2,905 cases of pneumonia have been reported in the province, Ikromov added.