A five-year-old boy suffering from high fever after contacting fowl was sent to an Istanbul hospital for test and treatment, the Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday.

The boy, called Ferhat Budak, came into contact with chickens three days ago in the yard of his house in Gebze, 100 km east of Istanbul.

If the case is confirmed, it will become the first detected in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, where no human cases have ever been reported.

In addition, two other children showing bird flu-like symptoms were reported to be in serious condition in the eastern city of Van, near Iran.

Tests were underway on Sunday to determine whether they had contracted the virulent H5N1 strain.

Turkey has witnessed a renewed outbreak of bird flu across the country after the first outbreak in the east was put under control in October.

H5N1 has so far killed three children, all from one family, in Dogubeyazit in eastern Turkey, and infected 18 others are in the countrywide.

A National Coordination Center for Bird Flu has been established, and it will be the only authority to update the public on new bird flu cases and issue official statements on the development of the disease, said Anatolia.