Three poultry workers involved in the avian flu outbreak on a poultry farm in Suffolk have tested negative for avian flu, the British Health Protection Agency said last night.
A spokesman said it was "probably inevitable" that more people would report ailments and need checks. He said precautionary tests would be carried out but they do not expect anyone to test positive for the H5N1 virus.
It emerged yesterday that the UK has stockpiled 14.6 million treatment courses of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) to prepare for an influenza pandemic. This is the WHO's preferred drug for the treatment of H5NI in humans.
Turkey's agriculture ministry confirmed that 170 birds died of bird flu in the south-eastern area of the country last week and said tests were under way to determine whether it was the H5N1 strain.
Turkey was particularly hard-hit last January when 12 people were infected, four of whom died of the H5N1 strain.
Authorities today said they have placed three villages under quarantine in south-eastern Batman province, culling about 1,650 animals since February 5th.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said yesterday cats should be kept away from areas affected by bird flu because they can pick up and spread the disease
"Cats could act as intermediary hosts in the spread of the H5N1 virus between species," FAO assistant director-general Alexander Mueller said.