KIEV, Dec. 4 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko Saturday declared a state of emergency in four Crimean villages where more than 1,600 chickens and geese were suspected to have died of the suspected deadliest form of bird flu, officials reported.

The authorities scrambled reacting to what is apparently the first outbreak of bird flu in Ukraine. It comes two months after first cases of the virus had been reported to strike chickens in neighboring countries, such as Romania and Russia.