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re: danger of flu pandemic is clear, if not presen News24, South Africa - 58 minutes ago


http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1813603,00.html

Bird flu found in turkeys
08/10/2005 18:23 - (SA)

Ankara - The first reported outbreak of bird flu in Turkey has killed some 2 000 turkeys in the northwestern province of Balikesir, a government official there said on Saturday.

Deputy governor Halil Yavuz Kaya told Turkish CNN television that a quarantine had been imposed on a turkey farm in the province's Manyas region.

He added that the turkeys probably contracted the disease from migratory birds and that the outbreak was isolated.

Manyas is home to a nature reserve known for its wide variety of birds.

A strain of bird flu known as H5N1 has killed 63 people in Southeast Asia since 2003, most of them in Vietnam.

The World Health Organisation's biggest fear is that H5N1 may mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly infectious as well as lethal, possibly killing millions worldwide.

No specific vaccine can be produced until the virus mutates, but antiviral medication might be effective if given quickly when symptoms develop.