Originally published February 13 2006
Bird flu claims three siblings in Turkey
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Although labs have yet to identify the strain as H5N1, Turkish officials suspect that the same strain of bird flu that killed 70 in Asia is responsible for the death of three siblings, who would be the first human cases outside of China and Southeast Asia.
An 11-year-old girl died Friday of suspected bird flu in eastern Turkey -- days after her brother and sister succumbed to the disease -- and their doctor said they probably contracted the illness by playing with dead chickens.
Scientists were closing in on identifying the virus as the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu that has already killed more than 70 people in East Asia since 2003, said a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization in Geneva.
A Turkish Health Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said the WHO lab in Britain suspected it to be H5N1 but only confirmed that it was a type of bird flu.
The WHO also is investigating whether the cases resulted from transmission between people, which could signal the start of a human pandemic, while frightened Turks rushed to pharmacies in search of medicine as well as simple gloves and masks.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said people urgently needed to be educated about keeping birds, and that during Friday prayers, imams would give instructions on protecting themselves.
Preliminary tests in Turkey indicated that Fatma Kocyigit, 15, and her 14-year-old brother, Mehmet Ali, died of the H5N1 strain, McNab said.
The four were hospitalized in the eastern city of Van after developing high fevers, coughing and bleeding in their throats.
Authorities are closely monitoring H5N1 for fear it could mutate into a form easily passed among humans and spark a pandemic.
New bird flu cases in fowl were detected in five areas in eastern and southeastern Turkey, and authorities have killed 7,000 fowl in those areas, Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker said.
In the Kocyigits' hometown of Dogubayazit, teams went from house to house rounding up chickens, placing them in bags and taking them away to be killed.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml