Azeri boy suspected of having bird flu dies

"According to information from the institute, the boy died today in the morning," Anar Kadyrly said. "Azeri specialists suspected he had bird flu, but three tests conducted in Baku showed he had acute pneumonia."

Kadyrly said the boy's blood sample had been sent for analysis to a laboratory in London endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), but no results had returned so far.

The boy was from the southern region of Salyan, one of two centers of last year's bird flu outbreak.

His sister was one of five people who died last year in an outbreak of H5N1 strain bird flu in the former Soviet republic lying between Turkey and Russia. Reuters