Brezhnev Sick

MOSCOW--Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev is sick, possibly due to fatigue from a hunting trip in East Germany, sources said yesterday.

Denying rumors of Brezhnev's death, several Soviet sources said the president is sick, but they did not identify his illness or its severity. One East European source said his malady is "hardly enough to justify the kind of stories that are going around."

In recent years Brezhnev has been reported to suffer from heart disease, emphysema, gout and cancer of the jaw. He is said to have had three to seven heart attacks.

East European sources said yesterday he may be tired after a four-day trip to East Germany earlier this month. They said Brezhnev, an avid hunter, could not turn down an invitation to join East German officials for a 6 a.m. hunting expedition.

Brezhnev was last seen in public October 8, when he returned from East Germany.