UPDATE: Bird flu infection ruled out in Turkish children

Prior to last week’s outbreak, bird flu had been eliminated in Turkey since the last recorded case on March 31. More than 2.5 million birds were culled across the country during last year’s outbreak.

Samples from a dead chicken, where bird flu was suspected, determined that the virus was of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain. After the potentially lethal resurfacing of the H5N1 strain, 3 out of 4 children tested for possible bird flu infection do not have the disease, according to the health ministry. Samples from the fourth child, aged 18 months, from the village of Bogazkoy in the mainly Kurdish southeastern province of Batman were inadequate and new tests will be carried out.

A man who had been in close contact with infected birds was under observation but was displaying no symptoms.

A quarantine zone was imposed within a 10km radius around Bogazkoy, where 170 birds died, including three other villages nearby, the ministry said. All poultry in four villages, totalling some 1,350 chickens, turkeys and ducks, have been slaughtered. No trace of the virus has been found in provinces neighbouring Batman.

For the latest poultry news, subscribe here.