January 6, 2006

More bird flu outbreaks in Turkey
 

A hospital official said 26 people were being treated for possible bird flu symptoms early Friday, as authorities from the health and agriculture ministries attempted to manage more outbreaks across eastern Turkey.

The Agriculture Ministry said Thursday that new bird flu cases were detected in five areas in eastern and southeastern Turkey and authorities have culled 7000 fowls in those areas.

But in eastern Turkey, almost every house has a fowl and they allow them to go inside their houses at night, aggravating the problem. In Kocyigits, teams went from house to house rounding up chickens, placing them in bags and taking them away to be culled.

In October 2005, Turkey successfully contained an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in the western town of Kiziksa, after culling more than 10,000 fowl. Birds in Turkey, Romania, Russia and Croatia have recently tested positive for H5N1.

Authorities have said the virus was believed to have been brought by birds migrating from the Caucasus region.

 A team of officials from the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization were expected to arrive in Turkey on Friday to assess the situation.