Turkey confirms new outbreak of H5N1 bird flu virus in fowl

The latest outbreak of the virus was detected on Feb. 5, in the village of Bogazkoy in Batman province, where authorities they have quarantined three villages and culled about 1,650 birds.

Final results from a laboratory in Ankara confirmed the deaths were linked to the H5N1 strain of the virus, the ministry said in a statement Friday.

Authorities have also hospitalized four children with flu symptoms from Bogazkoy as a precaution. The children, between the ages of 1 and 16, had reportedly come in contact with the sick fowl. Tests are under way to determine whether the children caught the virus.

Experts worry the H5N1 strain of the virus, which remains hard for people to catch, will mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, potentially sparking a pandemic.

So far, most cases of human infection have been traced to direct contact with infected birds.

The Agriculture Ministry said it had informed the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the European Commission of the test results.

It said protective clothing and equipment were being sent to the affected region, and that the gathering and slaughter of domestic birds was continuing in two villages.

During an outbreak of H5N1 in Turkey in January 2006, 12 people were infected and four of them died.

H5N1 has claimed at least 165 human lives worldwide since it began spreading through Asian poultry farms in late 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

Authorities were investigating whether the virus might have been brought by migratory birds. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/