April 6, 2007

Turkey declares itself bird-flu free

Turkey is now free of bird flu and all quarantine measures for the previous outbreak have been lifted, Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker said Thursday at a press conference in Diyarbakir province.

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu had hit Diyarbakir and neighbouring Batman province earlier this year, leading to the culling of hundreds of birds.

While several suspected human infections were tested, none have turned up positive so far.