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**Siam** · February 12, 2007, 01:13 PM

Re: New cases (birds) in Silvan, Diyarbakır Turkey (Feb 12th)

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DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AFP) - Four more villages in southeastern Turkey have been quarantined over bird flu fears after the presence of the potentially lethal H5N1 virus was confirmed last week in the region.

The village of Akcay and three nearby hamlets in the mainly Kurdish province of Diyarbakir were placed under quarantine following the deaths of poultry there, said the head of the local agriculture department, Mustafa Kayhan.

"There is a suspicion of bird flu," he said, adding that

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samples from dead birds were sent to a laboratory for analyses Monday.

The H5N1 virus, which claimed four lives in Turkey a year ago, resurfaced last week in the village of Bogazkoy in the neighboring province of Batman.

The health ministry said Monday that three people, who were hospitalised on the suspicion that they might have contracted the disease, have tested negative for the virus.

The two women, aged 68 and 33, and a three-year-old boy from Bogazkoy were put under observation at the weekend in a hospital in nearby Diyarbakir city.

"They all tested negative," an official from the ministry's press service told AFP. "There is noone currently in hospital on suspicion of bird flu."

Four children from Bogazkoy who were hospitalised after the outbreak was confirmed in the village on Thursday also tested negative at the weekend.

A 10-kilometre (six-mile) quarantine zone has been imposed around Bogazkoy, covering three neighbouring villages, and all poultry in the area have been slaughtered.

Two World Health Organisation (WHO) experts visited the quarantine zone on Sunday to see the measures on the ground, local sub-governor Tarkan Keskin told Anatolia news agency.

Medical screening of people in 48 other villages in the region continued Monday, he said, adding that the authorities would hold a meeting with village elders to raise awareness about the disease.

A major bird flu outbreak in Turkey killed four teenagers in January last year in a remote region near the border with Iran, from where the virus quickly spread to more than a half of the country's 81 provinces.

Turkey's east and southeast are the country's poorest regions, where people are traditionally in close contact with poultry as backyard breeding is often their only source of livelihood.

The four teenagers -- three siblings and their cousin -- became the first human casualties of the H5N1 strain outside Southeast Asia and China.

Eight other people confirmed as H5N1 carriers by the WHO recovered after treatment

**HenryN** · February 13, 2007, 11:49 AM

Re: New cases (birds) in Silvan, Diyarbakır Turkey (Feb 12th)

More fowl test positive to bird-flu virus in south-eastern Turkey <TABLE cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center width="50%">dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday February 13, 2007</TD><TD vAlign=center width="50%">

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Ankara- Turkish authorities on Tuesday confirmed new cases of bird-flu in dead poultry from a village in south-east Turkey, the private NTV television station reported. The positive results came from poultry that had died over the past few days in the village of Dolucu, according to a statement released by the Batman governor's office. It was not clear whether the birds were carrying the H5-N1 strain of the virus which can be fatal to humans.

Last week authorities announced that fowl from another village in Batman province had died after contracting the H5-N1 strain of the virus.

A number of children also from Batman province who were hospitalized late last week suffering bird-flu-like symptoms were later cleared of having the virus.

Agriculture Ministry workers carried out a cull of all fowl in four villages last week in order to try and stop any spread of the virus. Dressed in protective white clothing the ministry workers rounded up chickens and turkeys and disinfected the area. A 10-kilometre quarantine of animals was also imposed.

A similar operation is to be launched around Dolucu.

The latest cases are the first reports of bird flu to hit Turkey since an outbreak last year that killed four children.

Hundreds of thousands of poultry were culled across Turkey following the outbreak that was suspected to have been caused by migratory birds from Russia.

? 2006 dpa German Press Agency

Raw Story

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/More_fowl_test_positive_to_bird_flu_02132007.html

Breaking news, political news, and investigative news reporting from Raw Story's team of journalists and prize-winning investigators.

**HenryN** · February 13, 2007, 04:47 PM

Re: New cases (birds) in Silvan, Diyarbakır Turkey (Feb 12th)

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Bird flu hits third village in southeast Turkey 

2 hours, 25 minutes ago

Bird flu has been detected among poultry in a third village in southeastern Turkey after the presence of the potentially H5N1 virus was confirmed last week in the region, a local official said.
Authorities began slaughtering poultry in the hamlet of Esentepe in the mainly Kurdish province of Batman after tests done on chicken samples came out positive, the head of the local agriculture department, Erdal Ozer, said.
"We will initially cull some 1,000 animals. We have also warned locals to stay away from poultry and wash their hands," he told the Anatolia news agency.
He did not say what strain of the virus had been spotted in the hamlet.
The head of the local health department, Hasan Demir, said they would begin medical checks on Wednesday.
Esentepe lies some 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of the village of Bogazkoy, also in Batman, where authorities confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus last week.
A 10-kilometre (six-mile) quarantine zone has been imposed around Bogazkoy, covering three neighbouring villages, and all poultry in the area have been slaughtered.
On Monday, the agriculture ministry announced that preliminary tests had also detected bird flu among poultry in the village of Akcayir in the neighbouring province of Diyarbakir.
Further analyses were being done to determine the strain present while the village and five nearby hamlets were placed under quarantine.
So far, seven people, all hailing from Bogazkoy, have been briefly hospitalised on suspicion of having contracted the disease, but were released after their tests came out negative.
A major bird flu outbreak in Turkey killed four teenagers in January last year in a remote region near the border with Iran, from where the virus quickly spread to more than a half of the country's 81 provinces.

Yahoo News: Latest and Breaking News, Headlines, Live Updates, and More

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The latest news and headlines from Yahoo News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos.

**HenryN** · February 15, 2007, 08:32 AM

Re: New cases (birds) in Silvan, Diyarbakır Turkey (Feb 12th)

Commentary at

Qinghai H5N1 Spread in Turkey

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02150701/H5N1_Turkey_Spread.html

Recombinomics Commentary

**HenryN** · February 15, 2007, 04:38 PM

Re: New cases (birds) in Silvan, Diyarbakır Turkey (Feb 12th)

<TABLE height=16 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=16></TD><TD class=bolum-td width="100%">News National</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Possible bird flu case in Diyarbakır </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Authorities are monitoring a woman in Turkey?s southeastern city of Diyarbakır who is suspected of having contracted bird flu. The highly pathogenic H5N1 avian ?bird flu? virus resurfaced last week in poultry, a hospital official said on Thursday. </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>Kevser Trak, 67, from the village of Doluca in the province of Batman, fell ill around a week ago and was admitted to a hospital in the neighboring province of Diyarbakır late Wednesday, doctors said. Blood samples from the woman have been sent to Ankara for testing, they added. The patient?s village is close to the village of Esentepe, one of three villages in the region where authorities have confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus.
Authorities have quarantined the area around all three villages and have begun slaughtering poultry and carrying out health checks among local residents.
Seven other people feared to have contracted the disease were briefly hospitalized and the released shortly when their tests results were negative.
Meanwhile, the first location where bird flu was discovered in Manisa?s Kızıksa district, has stopped raising turkeys. Many locals were faced with difficulties when a decision was made to halt turkey farming in the Kızıksa. Sıtkı Bozkurt, a poultry farmer, said he stopped breeding turkeys, which had been doing for almost 20 years, upon losing over YTL 60,000 after 2,800 of his turkeys were culled following a detection of the bird flu in their village. Bozkurt added that local residents have been experiencing financial difficulties for the past year and a half due to bird flu.
A major bird flu outbreak in Turkey killed four teenagers in January of last year in a remote region near the Iranian border, from where the virus quickly spread to more than half of Turkey?s 81 provinces.
</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right colSpan=2>16.02.2007
</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right colSpan=2>İstanbul Today?s Zaman with wires </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=103064&bolum=101

**AlaskaDenise** · February 15, 2007, 06:13 PM

Re: New cases (birds) in Silvan, Diyarbakır Turkey (Feb 12th)

Originally posted by niman View Post

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02...ey_Spread.html

Commentary

Qinghai H5N1 Spread in Turkey
Recombinomics Commentary
February 15, 2007

The latest OIE report from Turkey describes the continued spread of H5N1 in the southeastern provinces of Batman and Diyarbakir. H5N1 infected birds were culled in Yesilalan field in the village of Akcayir in Silvan as well as Esentepe Field in Doluca in Merkez and Bogazkoy in Gercus in Batman. These three outbreaks are attributed to wild birds. The location of the three outbreaks is displayed on the map in the OIE report.

The spread in Turkey, which borders the Black Sea to the south is happening at the same time as H5N1 infections in Krasnodar on the northern shore of the Black Sea. Russia is also reporting three outbreaks (Borodinskaya in Primorsko-Akhtarsky, Upornaya in Labinsk, and a second outbreak in Labinsk). The location of these three outbreaks is depicted on the map included in the OIE report.

These six outbreaks follow the two outbreaks reported in southeastern Hungary in Szentes district in Csongrad province on a farm in Derekegyhaz-Ordongos and Szentes-Lapisto.

The confirmation of these multiple outbreaks in the three countries above is in addition to suspect outbreaks in Azerbaijan and Georgia in regions adjacent to the eastern shores of the Black Sea.

Last season initial reports of H5N1 in the region were in the fall in Romania and western Turkey. That was followed by a series of reports of H5N1 throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. These reports from last season were almost all made in February and March, although H5N1 had clearly moved into the region months earlier.

This season, surveillance is again extremely poor. H5N1 detection is not reported until birds on farms begin to die with H5N1 symptoms. All of these reports described the Qinghai strain of H5N1 which is transported and transmitted by migratory birds, but detection is generally limited to wild birds that have died or infection of poultry in backyard or commercial farms.

Last season many of the initial reports were from mute swans that died in February or March. These birds are not migratory, but serve as markers of H5N1 in the region. The deaths may be due to a combination of factors that lead to an increase in the H5N1 level which is subsequently detected in the various countries in Europe, but the actual arrival of Qinghai H5N1 into the region is months prior to detection.

Some countries in Europe have only found H5N1 in wild birds, while in other cases, such as the ones described above, detection is limited to dead or dying poultry.

In addition to the recent outbreaks described above, H5N1 has been detected in multiple locations in Pakistan, Egypt, and Nigeria. These outbreaks are also linked to migratory birds and all H5N1 detected is the Qinghai strain.

In Hungary, the H5N1 was 99.4% identical to Qinghai outbreaks from last season and was 99.96% identical to the H5N1 that spread on a turkey farm in the UK.

The failure to detect the H5N1 in the region prior to outbreaks on farms is cause for concern. H5N1 is again widespread in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, but like, last season, most countries have failed to detect / report the Qinghai H5N1 in the regions.