There were 34 bird flu hotbeds across Romania on Monday, including two in Bucharest, where operations to contain the spread of the H5 virus will be partially contained tomorrow, Romanian Agriculture minister Gheorghe Flutur said today.

He made the statement as he rejected calls for his resignation over the recent spread of the virus. He acknowledged “I am responsible and I’m managing the crisis”.

He said containment works were over in 21 hotbeds where all poultry were culled and the disinfection of affected households was over. He said a new suspicious case was reported in the historical town of Sighisoara, Central Transylvania, and in Focsani and Odobesti in Eastern Romania.

Another three hotbeds were confirmed in the county of Brasov, two in Valcea and one in Neamt on Monday.