----- Forwarded message from InfoBeat -----

*** Russia declares health emergency

MOSCOW (AP) - Officials declared a health emergency Saturday in a southern Russian region as the number of people reported to have come down with hemorrhagic fever rose to 14. Stavropol region governor Alexander Chernogorovy made the announcement after a meeting with Deputy Minister of Health Gennady Onishchenko, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. Chernogovory said local authorities needed federal money to help fight ticks, which carry the disease. Two people have died in Stavropol, located about 750 miles south of Moscow, in the outbreak. ITAR-Tass said that three people died of the fever last year in Stavropol, and that before that, there hadn't been a case of hemorrhagic fever reported in the area for 27 years. The fever causes high temperatures, joint pains, chills and sometimes bleeding. In extreme cases it can be fatal. ###

----- End forwarded message -----