09.01.2006

Five more people have tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Turkey. Four of them come from the center of the country. This brings the total number of human avian influenza cases in Turkey to 14, including two deaths. A third person is thought to have died from avian influenza, though tests haven't confirmed it was the H5N1 strain. Another 45 have been hospitalized with flu symptoms, Fehmi Aydinli, deputy chief of planning and health care at the health ministry, said yesterday. ``It seems that the epidemic has been spreading among animals in Turkey for much longer than believed,'' Klaus Stoehr, who heads the WHO's global influenza program, told German radio, according to AFP. Four of the five latest cases come from provinces situated on the black sea and close to Ankara, the country's capital. The previous cases were confined to eastern Turkey, near the border with Iran. Scientists at a WHO-affiliated laboratory in London are still working to confirm that the third death in Turkey, of an 11-year-old girl, was caused by the H5N1 bird virus. The virus is in the H5 family, and genetic tests to confirm it also carries the N1 protein will take more time (Bloomberg).