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Britons warned of bird flu
09/01/2006 18:41 - (SA)
London - The head of Britain's leading medical research organisation called for vigilance on Monday as the nation kept a worried eye on the spread of bird flu in Turkey.
Colin Blakemore, chairman of the government-funded Medical Research Council, said: "I think the chance of bird flu reaching Britain must be high because birds do migrate.
"Although it is not a cause for panic, there is certainly a cause for concern, preparation and vigilance."
Fourteen people tested positive for bird flu in Turkey, including two siblings who had died, as a team from the World Health Organisation travelled on Monday to the worst-hit regions in the east of the country.
70 people killed
Three cases had been reported in Turkey's capital, Ankara, bringing the virus to its closest point yet to Europe. Bird flu had killed more than 70 people in China and southeast Asia since 2003.
Blakemore advised travellers to stay away from eastern Turkey, and, in particular, from affected urban areas.
He said: "People should always look on the foreign office website for guidance on this, but I don't think it would be advisable to travel to the eastern parts of Turkey or to enter parts of known infection."
The foreign office advisory for Turkey said the risk from bird flu "is believed to be very low" so long as one steered clear of live animal markets and poultry farms, but advised travellers to seek advice from their doctor first.
- AFP
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