Second Turk dies from bird flu, more suspected to be infected

Friday, January 6, 2006

A 15 year old female has been the second person to die in Turkey from bird flu. The news follows the death of her brother on Sunday. Six people from another Turkish province are also thought to be infected, bringing the total number of suspected cases in Turkey to 18.

It has been revealed by Turkish officials that samples from the boy tested positive to the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

The deaths are the first from H5N1 outside of Asia. Around 70 people have died from the virus in the last two years. Of those infected, over half have died.

In an attempt to stop the virus from spreading, the Turkish government have placed five areas of eastern Turkey near Dogubayazit, the affected village, under quarantine. The sale and movement of animals in the region has been banned, livestock is to be kept in enclosed areas, and a hunting ban is also in place in the east.

The Turkish government will make 7m lire (US$5.2m, €4.3m, £3m) available to farmers who surrender their poultry for culling to prevent the virus spreading further.

The World Health Organisation are sending a team of experts to Turkey to determine how best to deal with the outbreak.

Authorities are urging people not to panic and reasssuring them that the outbreak does not mean a pandemic. At this stage, the virus is only transferred to humans from close contact with infected fowl.

Related Wikinews

"Turkish teenager dies from bird flu" — Wikinews, January 5, 2006

Sources

"Second Turkish Child Dies from Bird Flu" — VOA News, January 5, 2006
Mustafa Yukselbaba. "Second Turkish teenager dies as bird flu spreads" — Reuters UK, January 5, 2006
Vincent Boland and Raphael Minder. "Turkish officials sent to bird flu deaths site" — Financial Times, January 5, 2006

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.