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WHO soothes bird-flu panic
06/01/2006 18:42 - (SA)
Geneva - The World Health Organisation sought on Friday to allay panic after the death of three people in Turkey from bird flu, although it admitted the disease was now "at the doors of Europe".
Fadela Chaib of WHO said the disease had been "contained in one province" in the east of Turkey and "there is no need for excessive panic".
A doctor in the eastern town of Van said a third child from the same family had died of bird flu there on Friday, a further sign that the deadly disease had already killed scores in Southeast Asia and China had now spread westwards closer to Europe.
It was not yet clear whether the deaths were caused by the H5N1 strain of bird flu blamed for the Asian fatalities.
Bird-flu-like symptoms
WHO was putting the number of suspect cases at 18, although the head of the hospital in Van had spoken earlier of 26 patients receiving treatment for bird flu-like symptoms.
Officials were still awaiting the results of further tests being conducted in London to determine whether any of the thousands of birds slaughtered in the village, where the children lived suffered from the H5N1 strain.
Chaib said a team of five WHO experts was to arrive in Van on Friday.
She said: "The initial hypothesis we are working on is that the children affected had dealt with diseased chickens and were thus infected."
Human-to-human transmission
But, the experts "will also try to see if we are faced with the first case of human-to-human transmission, which would be the start of a flu epidemic".
Humans were thought only to contract bird flu if they came into close contact with infected birds, but scientists feared that millions around the world could die if the virus crossed with human-flu strains to become highly contagious.
Chaib said the test results from Britain were expected next week.
In the meantime, the experts arriving in Van would help local authorities to take the right measures so those handling the sick would not be infected.
- AFP
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