Turkey extends culling of poultry
NST, 17 Jan 2006

ANKARA , Mon. --- Turkey today extended the culling of poultry across the country after a girl died from suspected bird flu and her brother was diagnosed with the deadly H5N1 virus.

Three children have already died from avian flu in Turkey, the first human victims reported outside east Asia since H5N1 re-emerged in 2003.

The potentially deadly virus has been found in wild birds and poultry over a third of Turkey, especially in villages reaching from Istanbul at Europe’s gates to Van near the Iranian and Iraqi borders.

Neighboring countries have expressed concern the virus might spread to their poultry flocks. Syria yesterday destroyed birds at a market near its northeastern border with Turkey to try to head off any spread of bird flu.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization experts have said the virus risked becoming a constant problem in Turkey as it is in poultry in parts of Asia. The Government has set up a committee to help the US$3 billion (RM11.25 billion) Turkish poultry sector.

 

The more it becomes entrenched in poultry flocks, the greater the risk that more humans will become infected. So far, the virus is reported to have infected about 150 people, killing at least 79 of them. None of those cases involved human-to-human transmission.

Bird flu in Turkey comes as the country recovers from a 2001 financial crisis. The crisis was followed by three years of high growth that has averaged eight per cent and a dramatic decline in inflation that had long plagued the economy. Investors will watch reaction from Turkish financial markets today after being shut since Jan 9. --- Reuters.