TURKEY: Health experts said yesterday that an outbreak of bird flu in Turkey could be brought under control as local officials sealed off parts of Ankara and Istanbul and culled thousands of birds.
Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said none of the latest human victims was in a life-threatening condition and urged Turks not to panic.
Two teenagers died last week from bird flu in eastern Turkey, the first reported deaths from the virus outside China and southeast Asia. Their dead sister is also a suspected victim, and hundreds of Turks have rushed to hospitals for bird flu tests.
"I have a sense that what is going on in Turkey can be brought under control relatively easily," said Dr Guenael Rodier, head of a World Health Organisation (WHO) team sent to investigate the outbreak.
Turkey has reported that at least a dozen people are infected with the virus, mostly children. Cases have been confirmed as far west as the central region around the capital Ankara, raising fears that the disease could spread to people in mainland Europe.
The rash of cases in Turkey is the first time the virus has been detected in people outside east Asia since it re-emerged in late 2003. It is now known to have killed at least 78 people, including two deaths in China newly documented by the WHO.
Dr Rodier said it was not clear why so many people had been infected in Turkey so quickly. "It is an open question if we are seeing a more efficient transmission from animals to humans."
There was also no answer yet to why the fatality rate was relatively low - just two confirmed deaths so far - against a rate in east Asia of roughly one death in every second case.
The WHO has said that victims appear to have contracted the disease from close contact with infected poultry, allaying fears that it was spreading from person to person.
Turkey reported another human case of bird flu yesterday in the central province of Sivas.
However, Mr Erdogan sought to dispel the sense of crisis that has overshadowed Turkish celebrations of the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival, a major national holiday.
Four people were taken to hospital with suspected bird flu near the Aegean coast, one of Turkey's most important tourism centres, adding to concerns that the outbreak will harm the country's important tourist trade.
Authorities in neighbouring countries sprayed cars crossing from Turkey with disinfectant and checked luggage as they tried to stem the spread of bird flu.
Authorities said more than half of people undergoing tests in Istanbul had tested negative. Parts of suburbs of the capital Ankara and the business hub Istanbul have been sealed off for the culling of poultry.
Inhabitants leaving the areas have been disinfected, and since December 26th more than 300,000 poultry have been culled.