Kolkata, INDIA (Reuters)
Turkish authorities confirmed on Tuesday the presence of the deadly bird flu virus among chickens in a village in the northern Black Sea region, as officials said an outbreak in India's most densely populated state could spiral out of control.
Turkey confirmed the H5N1 bird flu strain among dead chickens in a village in the northern Black Sea region.
Muzaffer Aydemir, a senior agriculture ministry official, said on Tuesday Saz village in Zonguldak province was placed under quarantine with all animal movements halted.
He said the surrounding area was disinfected, and no other cases had been reported so far.
"This is a very limited case. Only spotted in chickens of a citizen who hunts wild birds. We are sure that the virus passed to the chickens from wild birds," Aydemir said.
The country was hit hard by a bird flu outbreak in the winter of 2006, which hurt tourism and damaged the poultry sector. Four people died after being in contact with diseased birds.
Turkey lies on the migratory route for wild birds flying south from Scandinavia and Siberia to North Africa for winter. |
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India and beyond In India, the deadly H5N1 strain was found among poultry in Malda, infecting seven of the 19 districts in the eastern state of West Bengal, according to state officials.
"There is every chance of the virus spiraling out of hand if it's too late," said Sanchita Bakshi, the state health services director.
At least 24 million people live in West Bengal's seven affected districts. Officials worry the virus could spread to humans and were collecting random blood samples from villagers.
The World Health Organization has said it was India's most serious outbreak.
Nepal, meanwhile, banned the import of poultry products from neighbor India, as authorities in Bangladesh culled thousands of chickens after the virus spread to 26 of its 64 districts. The country has struggled to contain the H5N1 outbreak since March.
Experts say the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic.
In Indonesia, which has the highest human death toll from bird flu, a 30-year-old man has tested positive for disease, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
He had been admitted to a hospital in the capital Jakarta suffering from a fever, breathing difficulties and pneumonia.
The new case brings the number of people in the Southeast Asian country who have tested positive for the disease to 120 -- of which 97 have died.
And in Iran, officials said on Friday that the virus was found in ducks and geese in the north of the country after affecting swans there, but no human cases were reported. |
