Turkey Reports Five More Bird Flu Cases, Disease Spreads West
Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Five more people have tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in Turkey, Agence France-Presse reported, citing comments by a health ministry official to the Anatolia news agency. This brings the total number of bird flu cases detected in humans in Turkey to 14, including two deaths, AFP said. A third person is thought to have died from bird flu, 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. An adult and two children tested positive yesterday and were hospitalized in Ankara, Turkey's capital, marking the virus's progress toward the West of the country and closer to Europe. Human infection increases the risk that the virus will mutate into a form that people can pass to one another, causing a deadly pandemic. The World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control sent experts to Turkey last week to help assess the situation and stem the outbreak.
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