Russia hopes to receive an A/H1N1 flu strain from the World Health Organization (WHO) soon so as to manufacture a vaccine against the flu, the Interfax news agency reported on Saturday, citing the country's chief public health official.

"WHO officials promised that, following research, they would give us a strain from which a vaccine can be manufactured," Gennady Onishchenko said.

Russian specialists at several research centers are conducting their own research of an A/H1N1 strain obtained from the United States, Onishchenko said.

They are examining the strain's features and sensitivity to anti-flu medications used in Russia, he said.

Russia reported its first case of A/H1N1 flu on Friday after a 28-year-old man returning to Moscow from New York was tested positive for the virus.

A senior Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday that Russia was actively developing a vaccine against the flu virus. Local media reports said the vaccine would be available in coming months.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2009)