Archive Number 20051012.2974
Published Date 12-OCT-2005
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Avian influenza - Eurasia (02)



AVIAN INFLUENZA - EURASIA (02)
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Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005
From: ProMED-mail
Source: AFP via Turkishpress, 11 Oct 2005 [edited]



Turkey slaughtered more fowl to combat a bird flu outbreak
amid warnings that the killer virus could spread, a prospect
that has caused neighbouring countries to block bird
exports.

The killing of fowl continued also in Romania, where
officials fear several birds might have been infected,
bringing the deadly virus into Europe.

In the village of Kiziksa in Turkey's northwestern Balikesir
province, veterinary experts, wearing protective overalls,
gloves and masks, toured in trucks to collect birds before
gassing and burying them in lime pits.

"Warning! Avian flu zone," read signs erected outside the 18
villages in a 3 kilometre (1.9 mile) quarantine zone around
a turkey farm where the 1st bird flu case in Turkey was
confirmed at the weekend.

Officials were also checking some 550 000 birds in farms
within a 7 kilometre (4.4 mile) radius surveillance zone
outside the quarantined area.

The head of the local farming department, Selahattin Kokcu,
told AFP that an estimated 6000 birds would be killed in all
and that teams were expected to complete the operation by
Wednesday [12 Oct 2005] at the latest.

The slaughter drew protests from locals, many of whom
surrendered their animals after warnings from officials that
those who hid their fowl would face a prison term of up to 6
months and a hefty fine.

The Turkish government says the disease has been contained
in Kiziksa, but a senior veterinary official warned Tuesday
that the country could see fresh outbreaks elsewhere as it
lies on the route of migrating birds.

The outbreak in Kiziksa is believed to have been caused by
birds heading for a nearby nature reserve during their
journey south to Africa.

"There is still the risk of the disease spreading to other
wetlands where migrating birds stop," Mustafa Altuntas, the
head of the Turkish Veterinarians' Union, was quoted by
Anatolia news agency as saying.

Furthermore, he said, the virus could be reintroduced in
spring as birds start migrating from south to north. "The
(agriculture) ministry should prepare for a long battle,"
Altuntas warned.

The outbreak in Turkey has resulted in bans on Turkish
poultry exports to the European Union and several other
European countries, but Turkish officials ruled out major
economic fallout.

Poultry producers shrugged off the bans, saying their sales
to the continent were already negligible. "Our firms for the
moment do not export live or butchered poultry to the EU,"
Zuhal Dastan, head of an association grouping 18 major
producers dominating the sector, said in Istanbul.

In Romania, which lies north of Turkey along the Black Sea
coast, officials awaited the results of tests conducted on 3
ducks believed hit by bird flu, and continued to kill fowl
in Ceamurlia de Jos, on the Danube delta, a major European
bird reserve.

Public Health Directorate official Rodina Costina told AFP
that even if the test results, expected on Wednesday, were
positive, it appeared to be a "weakly pathogenic virus."

3 European Union experts who arrived Monday [10 Oct 2005] to
assist Romania, meanwhile, went to Ceamurlia de Jos on
Tuesday morning, several sources said.

In Turkey, experts have said that samples from infected
animals tested positive for the H5 virus, but it is not yet
known whether it is the H5N1 strain, seen as particularly
dangerous. The H5N1 virus has mainly been found in 10
southeast Asian countries and has so far infected 112
people, of whom more than 60 have died, according to the
World Health Organization.

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