Back at her home, Sumeyye's grown-up brother Sadun thanked the local doctor who sent his little sister to hospital in the first place and saved her life. 

"Relatives and friends have been coming to visit and Sumeyye has been playing with them," said Sadun Mamuk. The 14-strong Kurdish family live in a cramped four-roomed, one-storey house with no running water and little heating for the cold winter -- like many others in this poor region. 

The family's woes started over the New Year when many of their 30 chickens began to fall ill and die. Unaware of the dangers, they dumped a dozen of them in a nearby stream. Officials have since taken them away to be destroyed. 

HUGGING A CHICKEN  Sumeyye was then laid low with fever after hugging a sick chicken. Dozens of other children were also brought to hospital in Van after contact with infected chickens. 

The family was unaware of the dangers of bird flu and had little choice but to live in close proximity with the chickens because of their poverty. The loss of the chickens has made life that much harder, even though local authorities have promised financial compensation. 

Health officials have launched a nationwide campaign to ensure Turks are aware of the dangers of bird flu and urge people, particularly children, to stay away from sick chickens. 

Most of the human bird flu cases have occurred in very poor areas of Turkey. 

Fourteen other people still in hospital are being treated for H5N1, although the World Health Organization said none of them were in a life-threatening condition. 

Oner said Sumeyye had been treated with the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, made by Swiss company Roche, but added: "I can't say what impact Tamiflu had on her." 

She will return for a checkup next Thursday, but she is relieved her ordeal is over. 

"Hospital was horrible. I was really bored," Sumeyye said, taking out Tamiflu tablets from her pocket to show a reporter. She showed off her school report and said she was now looking forward to going back to her classroom.