MOSCOW, November 8 - Russian veterinary services confirmed bird flu in 12 settlements, and cut the number of the villages - suspected of being hit by the infection - from 20 to 9, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phitosanitary Inspection /Rosselkhoznadzor/ said on Monday. PRIME-TASS said there were three bird flu-hit settlements in the Altai territory as of Monday, November 7, and that all poultry were killed in one village in the Omsk region. Veterinary authorities may lift quarantine from it in the nearest future. Three settlements affected by the bird flu virus were detected in the Kurgan region, and one settlement is suspected of having contacted the infection. Two nidi of bird flu were registered in the Chelyabinsk region, and eight suspected settlements were reported in the Novosibirsk region. Restrictions from the suspected Novosibirsk villages may be lifted next week. Disinfection procedures were implemented in a bird flu-hit village in the Tula region. Quarantine may be lifted from it later this week. In the Tambov region, two settlements with an adverse bird flu situation were reported.