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<B><center>[January 16, 2006]
<A href="http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-new-bird-flu-cases-indicate-disease-spreading-/2006/jan/1287894.htm">www.tmcnet.com</a>
<font size=+1 color=green>New bird flu cases indicate disease is spreading</font></center>
(Turkish Daily News Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Preliminary tests showed five more people have been infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus in Turkey, a Health Ministry official said on Monday, indicating the disease was spreading</b>
A World Health Organization (WHO) official warned on Monday that the chances the disease may mutate into a dangerous form are rising with every new human infection.
Turkish laboratories detected the H5N1 strain in the five new cases, which occurred in four separate provinces, according to a Health Ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the media.
The new cases -- which have not yet been confirmed by the World Health Organization -- raise the number of suspected and confirmed cases in Turkey to 15.
In addition, more than 60 people with flu-like symptoms who had come in close contact with fowl were hospitalized around the country by Monday and were undergoing tests, officials said.
"The more humans infected with the avian virus, the more chance it has to adapt," Guenael R.M. Rodier, a senior WHO official for communicable diseases, said during a visit to Doethubayazyt, a town bordering Iran where three children have died.
"We may be playing with fire," he said.
Health officials are watching the disease's spread and development for fear it could mutate into a form easily transmitted between people and spark a pandemic. Apart from giving confirmation to the Turkish cases, WHO labs are also watching out for genetic changes in the virus that could allow it to pass from human to human.
The four cases confirmed so far involved people who were in close contact with fowl, suggesting they were most likely infected directly by birds, health officials say.
The five newest cases came from four provinces in eastern and central Turkey, as well as the Black Sea coast, according to Health Ministry official Turan Buzgan.
Ten people had earlier tested positive for H5N1 in tests in Turkish labs, four of which have been confirmed by the WHO.
Those four include two siblings who died last week in the eastern city of Van -- the first confirmed fatalities caused by the virus outside of eastern Asia, where 74 people have died from H5N1 since 2003. A third sibling also died from bird flu in Van, but a WHO lab has not yet confirmed that it was H5N1.
"It's clear that the virus is well established in the region," Rodier said. "The frontline between children and animals, particularly backyard poultry, is too large," he said, adding that contact between poultry and people must be minimized.
On Sunday, three H5N1 cases were reported in Ankara and two more in Van. Ankara is about 1,000 kilometers west of Van.
The cases in Ankara included two young brothers and a 65-year-old man, all who tested positive for H5N1 in preliminary tests by Turkish labs.
The boys in Ankara -- aged five and two -- caught the virus while playing with the gloves their father had used to handle two dead wild ducks outside of Ankara. An eight-year-old girl was hospitalized in Van with what Turkish labs showed was H5N1. She apparently contracted the virus by hugging and kissing dead chickens.
On Monday, Health Minister Recep Akdaeth along with WHO officials arrived in Doethubayazyt, where most of the cases have originated.
"If as a community, we take the necessary measures and educate [people] we can combat this in a short period of time," Akdaeth said. "We will manage to slow its progress."
However, he said that because Turkey was on the path of migratory birds, the country would continue to be at risk in years to come, and urged people to abandon raising poultry in backyards.
"The earlier we realize this, the earlier we will be rid of bird flu," he said.
Akdaeth climbed up a snowy hill to visit Zeki Kocyigit, the father of the three siblings who succumbed to the disease. As he left, villagers shouted behind him, complaining that there were not enough doctors.
The doctor who treated the three children in Van said they probably contracted the illness by playing with dead chickens.
Health officials believe the best way to fight the spread of bird flu is the wholesale destruction of poultry in the affected area. But they often run into problems in rural areas such as Doethubayazyt, where villagers have resisted turning in their animals.
On Sunday, a group of Turkish health workers in Doethubayazyt had to climb over a wall when a woman refused to open the door and hand over her several chickens, insisting they were not sick. The workers could not persuade her to part with the chickens and left, saying they would return with the police.
In Istanbul, where bird flu in fowl was detected in some neighborhoods on the city's outskirts, authorities imposed a quarantine, banning the entry and exit of poultry and disinfecting people leaving the area.
Panic giving way to anger: Panic gave way to anger on Monday in the eastern town of Doethubayazyt, home of Turkey's first bird flu deaths, as residents accused the government of letting them down because they are Kurds
"The authorities are not interested in us because we're Kurds," said Mehmet Gultekin, a local leader
He said they were receiving help only from municipal workers sympathetic to the Kurds in the town of around 56,000 inhabitants.
Gultekin pointed to a group of farmers who had gathered in front of the local agriculture building, clutching bags of chickens
"Look, people are bringing their chickens here themselves," he said. "They're working while the government workers sleep." Municipal teams struggling to collect the poultry said they were doing their best with limited means. "We're doing what we can, but there aren't enough of us," said Ybrahim Giglal, a local employee dressed in the increasingly familiar white overall for protection from the deadly bird flu
He said that 12 teams each consisting of three members had collected 16,000 chickens in the town of Doethubayazyt, and confirmed that none of the 84 surrounding villages had yet been investigated
"Each province has called up all their staff, so we can't get reinforcements," he added
Europe announces new measures: The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, specifically announced new import bans on six mostly Mideastern countries surrounding eastern Turkey, where the latest outbreak is centered
Europe has been on bird flu alert since October, when a spate of cases was reported on its southeastern flank. But those outbreaks appeared to have been contained, until the latest resurgence in Turkey
An EU spokesman underlined that despite the rash of testing over the last few months -- around 25,000 birds have been tested since October -- no positive case of the disease has been found in one of the bloc's 25 member states
"There has been no reported case of H5N1 in the European Union to date," said commission spokesman Michael Mann, referring to the potentially deadly strain of bird flu responsible for deaths in Asia
The new measures banned the import of untreated feathers from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Syria, Iran and Iraq. Imports of all other at-risk products have already been banned from these countries.
Limited outbreaks were also reported in a number of countries on Europe's southeastern border, including Romania and Croatia, while the disease also spread further into Russia
In Britain on Monday, the head of the country's leading medical research organization called for vigilance, especially warning travelers to stay away from eastern Turkey and from affected urban areas in particular
"Although it's not a cause for panic, it's certainly a cause for concern, preparation and vigilance," said Colin Blakemore, chairman of the government-funded Medical Research Council.
Please tell me I'm wrong, but don't think I am guys...
