Turkish Agriculture and Rural Affairs Ministry confirmed on Thursday that
bird flu have been found in the southeast of the country, just over a year after
four children were killed by the deadly H5N1 strain of disease in the region.
The ministry said in a statement that bird flu have been found on Thursday in
the village of Bogazkoy in the southeastern province of Batman, the private
CNN-Turk television channel reported.
A total of 170 poultry died from the disease which experts believed to be
carried by wild birds, the report said. Experts were making tests to find out
whether the virus was the deadly H5N1 strain.
Authorities have imposed a 10-km quarantine of animals around the Bogazkoy
and nearby villages, and decided to cull nearly 1,500chickens, ducks and turkeys
in nearby area.
It is reported that three children in the area had been put under medical
observation for suspected bird flu.
Last year, four children from the east of the country died from the H5N1
after coming into contact with chickens carrying the virus. Turkish authorities
culled more than 1.3 million birds during the outbreaks.