Re: 2ND person died from bird flu in Turkey

[Guest guest]

A second person has died from bird flu at a hospital in eastern Turkey,

a doctor there said.

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The victim was a sister of a 14-year-old boy who died of bird flu Sunday

in the same hospital in the town of Van, the doctor, Ahmet Faik Oner,

was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

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He said the girl, Fatma Kocyigit, whose age was not released, died at

6:30 am (0430 GMT). She had been in a critical condition since Wednesday.

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" Two people have therefore died of bird flu in Van, " the doctor said.

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Authorities confirmed late Wednesday that the boy had died from bird

flu, the first known human fatality from the disease outside Southeast

Asia and China, where it has killed more than 70 people since late 2003,

nearly 40 of them in 2005 alone.

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Hospital sources in Van said they interned three other children with

similar symptoms on Thursday, also from Dogubeyazit but not from the

same family.

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Dogubeyazit is about 100 km (60 miles) south of Aralik, a village on the

flight path of migratory birds blamed for the spread of the epidemic.

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Aralik was put under quarantine last week after fowl there tested

positive for the H5 strain of bird flu.

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Officials were still awaiting the results of further tests being

conducted in London to determine whether any of some 750 birds

slaughtered in the village suffered from the H5N1 strain of bird flu,

which can be deadly to humans.

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Experts have warned that Turkey faces a prolonged threat of bird flu

outbreaks because it lies on the flight path of migrant fowl.

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More than 70 people have died from bird flu in Southeast Asia since late

2003, nearly 40 of them in 2005 alone.

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The latest was believed to be a 39-year-old man who died at a hospital

in Jakarta on Monday, one day after he was admitted suffering from

symptoms of bird flu.

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AFP