Health officials, meanwhile, scrambled to give flu shots to thousands of people living in the six infected villages -- all under quarantine -- on the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea.

"We have taken radical measures to solve the problem," Yushchenko said during a visit to Nekrasivka, one of the worst-infected villages.

"What is important is that the government and the people are confronting this issue today in an organized manner," he said. "Ukraine managed to localize the threat."

Six Villages

Yushchenko met with residents, veterinarians, emergency workers and soldiers brought in to help contain the outbreak of the H5 strain of bird flu. Ukraine officially recorded its first case on Saturday, and Yushchenko immediately declared a state of emergency in three Crimean regions, all located in the marshlands near Lake Sivash.

It was the first appearance of bird flu in this ex-Soviet republic, which borders the European Union.

Samples from the dead birds have been sent to laboratories in Italy and Britain to determine whether the disease could be the deadly H5N1 strain, which is being monitored for fear it could mutate into a form that is easily transferable among humans. Results are expected by Thursday.

At least 68 people have died from the H5N1 bird flu virus since it emerged in Asia in 2003, and the deadly strain has been recorded in birds in Romania, Turkey, Croatia and Russia.

While in Nekrasivka, Yushchenko said that the state of emergency would probably be lifted in about two weeks, and the quarantine would likely last 40 days, his office said. Earlier, some officials had suggested the state of emergency could be lifted as early as Tuesday.

Yushchenko promised that all six villages -- home to some 6,969 people, according to Health officials -- would receive all necessary medicine and equipment.

Flu Vaccinations

No human infections have been recorded in Ukraine, Health Ministry spokeswoman Anna Trubacheva said. Nineteen medical teams were dispatched to the villages, and some 901 people, including 150 children, who may have handled the sick birds are under medical observation, she said.

Ukraine plans to give regular flu vaccinations to all the residents by Dec. 12. Yushchenko said some 60,000 people would receive vaccinations.

Ukrainian officials acknowledged Saturday that they had begun recording large numbers of dead birds in October near Lake Sivash, a region that is popular with migratory birds.

After bird flu was detetcted, officials began culling and burning all fowl on Sunday. Emergency workers clad in white protective suits broke the necks of chickens and geese in village courtyards.

In Nekrasivka alone, more than 1,350 fowl were confiscated and killed. Viktor Baloga, minister of emergency situations, told regional officials that the cull should be complete by Wednesday morning, his office said.

Most villagers in this rural nation keep domestic fowl, and government control over small, street markets where birds are sold has been patchy, prompting some fears about how Ukraine will weather the outbreak.

So far, most of the human cases in Asia have been traced to contact with sick birds.

Ukraine's parliament planned to hold a special session Tuesday to discuss the situation. Meanwhile, Yushchenko said he was firing the country's top veterinarian, Petro Verbitsky, for failing to cope with the problem.