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Second Turkish teen dies from bird flu
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-05 21:06
Authorities are closely monitoring H5N1, for fear it could mutate into a form
easily passed between humans and spark a pandemic.
The virus has killed 74 people — mainly farm workers in close contact with
fowl from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia — according to the WHO, whose figures
were last updated on Dec. 30.
Birds in Turkey, Romania, Russia and Croatia have recently tested positive
for H5N1.
The three children were admitted to the hospital last week after developing
high fevers, coughing and bleeding in their throats. Eight other patients at the
hospital had similar symptoms and were being tested for bird flu, said Huseyin
Avni Sahin, head physician at the hospital.
Sahin told private NTV television that other patients with the symptoms were
hospitalized in the eastern city of Erzurum because his hospital was not capable
of handling more cases.
Several outbreaks among birds have been reported in Turkey's impoverished
eastern region, where many people raise poultry. Some 1,500 birds have been
destroyed in the area since last week.
Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker traveled to Van to discuss the situation with
local officials Thursday.
"We're facing an important problem," Eker told reporters. "We should calmly
take all measures required by science and medicine and implement them without
panicking."
The children helped to raise poultry on a small farm in the eastern town of
Dogubeyazit, close to Iranian border, and were in close contact with sick birds.
Most of the other eight patients at the hospital were from the same town,
some 40 miles away from the town of Aralik where Turkish authorities last week
said some chickens had tested positive for an H5 variant of bird flu.
Eker said at least two other outbreaks elsewhere in the region had been
confirmed.
In October, more than 10,000 fowl were culled in western Turkey, where the
H5N1 virus was detected
Authorities have said the virus was believed to have been brought by birds
migrating from Caucasus regions.
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