Home>News Center>World
         
 

Human bird flu cases reach Turkish capital
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-09 08:59

Three Turks tested positive for a deadly strain of bird flu in the capital Ankara on Sunday, a new stage in the westward sweep of the disease from its east Asian origins towards major economic centres in Turkey and Europe.

The first case of the virus jumping from birds to humans outside China and southeast Asia occurred last week in rural eastern Turkey, where three children from the same family died after contracting the highly potent H5N1 strain.

As doctors confirmed that two children and a 60-year-old man were being treated in Ankara for the virus, Russia raised fears of the disease impacting Turkey's economy by warning its citizens against visiting the popular holiday destination.

Doctors said the infected children, aged 5 and 2, came from Beypazari west of Ankara and had caught the virus after contact with dead wild birds. Their parents tested negative.

Ankara is about 400 km (250 miles) east of Istanbul, Turkey's densely populated commercial and tourism hub, and from the continent of Europe. Officials said the culling of birds had begun in the Ankara districts hit by bird flu.

Turkish Minister of Health Recep Akdag visits Yusuf Has, who is under treatment for a suspected bird flu virus, at an hospital in the eastern Turkish city of Van January 8, 2006.
Turkish Minister of Health Recep Akdag visits Yusuf Has, who is under treatment for a suspected bird flu virus, at an hospital in the eastern Turkish city of Van January 8, 2006. [Reuters]
Four children have also tested positive for the H5N1 strain in the city of Van, about 800 km (500 miles) east of Ankara, bringing the total number of those known to be infected in Turkey to seven.

The state Anatolian news agency said a 5-year-old boy was admitted to hospital with suspected bird flu in Corum in central Turkey on Sunday.

The agriculture ministry said bird flu had been detected among poultry in 15 different locations, including Istanbul.

The children who died in Van last week almost certainly caught the virus directly from chickens, officials say.

But world health authorities worry that human exposure to the bird flu could lead to the emergence of a mutation allowing easier transmission between humans -- and raising the prospect of a global pandemic.

RUSSIAN WARNING

A team of World Health Organisation doctors arrived in Van on Sunday evening after and said the Turkish government was behaving in a transparent way in fighting the disease.

"The health ministry has a good understanding that this is both a local problem and also a global problem," one WHO official said in televised comments. His name was not given.

Iran, which borders the Turkish region worst affected by the outbreak, closed one of its border crossings, forcing many Turks travelling there for this week's major Muslim holiday marking the Feast of the Sacrifice to return home, Anatolian said.

Interfax news agency quoted Russia's chief state epidemiologist, Gennady Onishchenko, as saying: "I earnestly advise Russian citizens to refrain from travelling to Turkey, especially to the eastern province of Agri and the city of Dogubayazit, where the situation is particularly alarming."

Russians flock to Turkey every year seeking sun and sand. They head mainly for Mediterranean and Aegean resorts many hundreds of km (miles) from Dogubayazit and Agri.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has appealed to Turks to help in the mass cull aimed at stemming the advance of the virus and has promised adequate compensation to those affected.

But in the Dogubayazit district hit by the virus, local people have accused the authorities of being slow to act.

A Reuters reporter saw chickens still walking on the streets and some escaping as they were about to be carried in large bags to be buried alive in pits.

The father of the three dead children in eastern Turkey, Zeki Kocyigit, 38, told Reuters they had not known bird flu was still a threat after authorities said they had successfully suppressed an outbreak among poultry in the west of the country.

"Nobody warned us... We thought the bird flu had passed," he said, adding that it was the custom in rural Turkey for families to kill and eat sick birds.

The virus spreads quickly among chickens, killing them in a day, and the best way to control it is immediately to slaughter all poultry in an affected area. This can be difficult in places where, as in eastern Turkey, people keep small backyard flocks.



Jewish people pray for Sharon
German Chancellor: US should close Guantanamo Bay prison camp
Commander of US Forces in South Korea to go
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Action plan mapped out for better health care

 

   
 

Emergency response guidelines announced

 

   
 

US copter down in Iraq; 12 feared dead

 

   
 

China uses cards to teach bird flu prevention

 

   
 

China outlines tax reforms in 2006

 

   
 

Officials battling toxic spill in Hunan river

 

   
  Doctors wait to bring Sharon out of coma
   
  Iran: UN to remove seals on nuclear facilities by Monday
   
  Human bird flu cases reach Turkish capital
   
  Israel reverses Palestinian campaign ban
   
  Man who shot Pope John Paul to be freed
   
  US copter down in Iraq; 12 feared dead
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
China uses cards to teach bird flu prevention
   
China puts bird flu knowledge on poker
   
WHO confirms deadly bird flu in Turkey
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 真实调教奇优影院在线观看| 性短视频在线观看免费不卡流畅| 把她抵在洗手台挺进撞击视频| 亚洲av无码不卡一区二区三区| 欧美猛交xxxxx| 免费毛片在线视频| 美女黄18以下禁止观看| 国产农村妇女毛片精品久久| 亚洲欧美日韩人成| 国产精品自拍亚洲| 99久久免费精品视频| 女性成人毛片a级| 东北女人奶大毛多水多| 日日摸日日碰夜夜爽亚洲| 久久精品一区二区三区中文字幕| 欧洲一级毛片免费| 亚洲国产成人久久三区| 欧美激情在线一区二区三区| 亚洲精品欧美精品中文字幕| 久久国产亚洲电影天堂| 男人肌肌捅女人肌肌视频| 午夜成人在线视频| 老司机带带我懂得视频| 国产亚洲一区二区三区在线| 麻豆国产原创剧情精品| 国产欧美视频一区二区三区| 奇米影视久久777中文字幕| 国产精品视频一区二区三区四| 99精品国产三级在线观看| 天天躁日日躁狠狠躁性色AVQ| 一二三四在线播放免费视频中国| 成人av在线一区二区三区| 中文字幕无码免费久久9一区9 | 久久久久亚洲AV无码专区首| 日韩国产欧美精品综合二区| 久久精品这里热有精品2015| 最近最新视频中文字幕4| 亚洲一区二区三区免费| 欧美jizzjizz在线播放| 亚洲久热无码av中文字幕| 欧美一级在线播放|