The Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations said on Thursday that new seats of bird flu may possibly emerge in Russia, mostly in its southern regions.

"As the migration of waterfowl continues, new cases of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus can appear in November," the Itar-Tass News Agency here quoted specialists from a center in the ministry which monitors and forecasts emergency situations as saying.

The Southern Federal District is particularly concerned, as a new case of bird flu in Russia's Tambov region has been confirmed,the agency said in a report.

The first case of bird flu in the Tambov region, to the southeast of Moscow, was registered two weeks ago in the suburbs of Morshansk, where about 100 chickens and ducks died, Yevgeny Prilensky, the head of the regional veterinary department told Itar-Tass.

And on Monday, the Agriculture Ministry registered ten territories where the situation of bird flu is unfavorable. Nineteen more have had suspected bird flu cases.

"The bird flu virus may also become endemic in Siberia, in the Urals and in Central Russia," the specialists said after explaining that "the virus will be preserved in wild ducks, hibernating in warm lakes at thermal power plants."

"As for the existing seats, the risk persists that the virus may get into poultry farms, where losses can make up 75 to 100 percent," they predicted.

Meanwhile, ministry specialists didn't rule out the possibility that people having contacts with domestic or wild birds could be infected with the virus.

From Oct. 14 to 31, deaths of poultry affected by bird flu were also registered in the Tula, Tambov, Chelyabinsk, Omsk and Altai regions, a ministry spokesman said.

"A total of 633 birds died and another 4,589 were destroyed during that period," the spokesman added.

Anti-epizootic measures have been taken in all those regions, he stressed.