October 31, 2005

Turkey lifts quarantine of bird flu-hit town
 

Turkish authorities on Friday lifted a 21-day quarantine of a village where the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was found.

Officials decided to end the quarantine of the village of Kiziksa after no other infected birds were found in the country. There have been no cases of human illness from the virus reported in Turkey.

The outbreak earlier this month killed more than 1,800 turkeys over a day and a half.

Turkish authorities responded by ordering the destruction of all poultry within a three-kilometre zone around the village, establishing an observation zone in the region, and offering farmers incentives to turn over their poultry for destruction.

About 10,000 birds were destroyed following the quarantine.

EU officials praised Turkey for its management of the outbreak.

The H5N1 virus, which is deadly for birds but difficult for humans to catch, was believed to have been brought by migrating birds from Asia.

Cases of the virus have also recently been confirmed in Croatia, Romania and Russia.

Officials worry that as the birds migrate farther south into the Middle East and Africa, outbreaks will be more poorly managed, devastating poultry stocks and increasing the chances that the virus could mutate into a form easily spread among humans. Of those people so far confirmed to have contracted the virus, more than half have died.

According to the WHO, at least 62 people-most of them poultry workers¡ªhave died of the virus in Asia since 2003.