Turkey: Bird flu case [in birds]

[Gert van der Hoek]

New bird flu case reported in Turkish village


© AP
2008-01-21

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Several dead chickens tested positive for the bird flu virus in a northern Turkish village, Agriculture authorities said Monday, adding that further tests were underway to determine the virus strain.

The chickens were found dead in Saz, a village in Zonguldak province, the Agriculture Ministry announced. Samples tested positive for bird
flu, but it was unclear if the strain was the deadly H5N1.

Measures were being taken to contain the disease, the ministry said.

Experts worry that the H5N1 strain, which remains hard for people to catch, could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, potentially sparking a pandemic. So far, most human cases have been traced to direct contact with sick birds.

During an H5N1 outbreak in Turkey in January 2006, 12 people were infected and four of them died.

http://www.pr-inside.com/new-bird-flu-case-reported-in-r397256.htm

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: New bird flu case reported in Turkish village

Location

[hawkeye]

Re: New bird flu case reported in Turkish village

From Jan 06 2006

Bird flu moves west in Turkey

Meanwhile, in Turkey, dead chickens in two villages in Zonguldak province on the Black Sea coast, about 1200km from the worst-hit eastern areas where the virus killed two children, tested positive for the disease, Yavuz Erkmen, the province's governor, said on Sunday.

[HenryN]

Re: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported in Turkish village

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01210805/H5N1_Turkey_Saz.html

[HenryN]

Re: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported in Turkish village

Turkey bird flu virus is H5N1 strain
Posted: 22 January 2008 1840 hrs
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=260 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=right width=20> </TD><TD align=right width=240></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top height=60> </TD><TD class=update vAlign=top height=60><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=138 bgColor=#f6f6f6>Photos </TD><TD width=47 bgColor=#f6f6f6>1 of 1</TD><TD width=18 bgColor=#f6f6f6><INPUT id=btnPrev disabled onclick=Prev(); type=image height=15 width=18 src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_previous.gif" value="<< Previous"></TD><TD width=19 bgColor=#f6f6f6><INPUT id=bntPlay onclick=Play() type=image height=15 width=19 src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_stop.gif" value="Play - Stop"></TD><TD width=18 bgColor=#f6f6f6><INPUT id=btnNext disabled onclick=Next(); type=image height=15 width=18 src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_next.gif" value=" Next >> "></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD class=update> </TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

ANKARA : The bird flu virus found in a village in northern Turkey is of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain that is potentially deadly to humans, an agriculture ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Asked by AFP whether the virus detected among poultry in the village of Saz in Zonguldak province on the southern coast of the Black Sea was H5N1, spokesman Tunc Tuncel said: "Yes, That is correct."

"But we believe that it has not spread to any humans," he said, adding that preventive measures were already in place. - AFP/ms

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/324167/1/.html

[HenryN]

Re: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported in Turkish village

Turkey bird flu virus is H5N1 strain - official
01.22.08, 5:50 AM ET

ANKARA (Thomson Financial) - The bird flu virus found in a village in northern Turkey is of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain that is potentially deadly to humans, an agriculture ministry spokesman confirmed.
Asked by AFP whether the virus detected among poultry in the village of Saz in Zonguldak province on the southern coast of the Black Sea was H5N1, spokesman Tunc Tuncel said: 'Yes, That is correct.'
'But we believe that it has not spread to any humans,' he said, adding preventive measures are already in place.
tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com
ms1/jfr

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/01/22/afx4556184.html

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported in Turkish village

OIE-report:

http://www.oie.int/wahid-prod/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=6700

[zkurmus]

Re: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported in Turkish village

Here's what's happening:

http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/433938.asp

This article basically says that yes, it is H5N1, but it was detected during random screenings in the area - which seems strange because as far as I know, there are nor routine checks in measure anywhere in Turkey.

Here's what they're saying is being done from NTVMSNBC:

"T?rkiye?de Zonguldak?ın ?aycuma il?esi yakınlarında tespit edilen vir?s?n de H5N1 tipi olduğu belirlendi.

Vir?s?n ortaya ?ıktığı Saz k?y?nde karantina uygulanıyor. K?y?n yer aldığı Filyos deltasında tarama ?alışmaları başlatıldı.

Ancak vir?s?n şimdilik bu b?lgeyle sınırlı olduğu d?ş?n?l?yor. İnsanlara ge?tiği sanılmıyor.

K?yde ?zel kıyafetli yaklaşık 50 kişilik bir ekibin, bin civarında hayvanı itlaf etmesi planlanıyor."

Saz village in being quarantined, and screening/monitoring in the Filyos delta are where the village is located has begun.

However, it is thought that the virus is limited to this area and no humans are thought t have been affected.

A team of 50 ho have been specially dressed is planning on culling about 1,000 animals in the area"

And here's Hurriyet's a bit more detailed article:

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/8072799.asp?gid=161&sz=4059

summary:
A dead swan has also been found on the beach near the village and has been sent for testing.

...

15 people have submitted saliva samples from the village since they stated that they ate ducks that they had hunted in the past 10 days. The owner of the original patch of 17 chicken that died, and his wife, have been thru routine control and have received medicine (does not state which * probably tamiflu -zk)

------------------

We ducked last year - hopefully nothing terrible happens this year. Will keep you all up to date w/ news etc.

z.

[sharon sanders]

Re: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported in Turkish village

Thanks Z.

[Niko]

Re: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported in Turkish village

Bird flu spotted in poultry in northern Turkey

Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:19am EST
(Adds quotes from official, background)

ANKARA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Turkish authorities said on Tuesday that they had spotted the deadly bird flu virus among chickens in a village in the northern Black Sea region.

The authorities did not confirm whether it was the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

The virus was found amoung dead chickens that were collected from Saz village in Zonguldak province on Saturday and following examinations the bird flu virus was detected, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

"All necessary measures have been taken around Saz village," it said without giving details.

Four people died from the H5N1 strain in eastern Turkey in 2006.

The village was put under quarantine and all animal movements were halted, Muzaffer Aydemir, the Agriculture Ministry's General Director of Protection and Control, told Kanal 24 television.

He said the authorities had not begun culling poultry in the region because the case looks like a limited one.

"This is a very limited case. Only spotted in chickens of a citizen who hunts wild birds. We are sure that the virus passed to the chickens from wild birds," Aydemir said.

He said the area surrounding the village was disinfected, but no other cases have been reported so far.

Consumers should not stop buying poultry products, he said and 12 teams of veterinary and other experts were working in the area to stop the disease spreading.[what measures? above says no culling - niko]

An outbreak of bird flu in the winter of 2006 hit Turkey's tourism industry and caused great damage to the poultry sector.

Turkey lies on the migratory route for wild birds flying south from Scandinavia and Siberia to north Africa for winter. (Reporting by Selcuk Gokoluk, Editing by Peter Blackburn)

http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSL22688149

[Niko]

Re: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported in Turkish village

Disregard my previous question. Apaarently culling is now being done. Why the change is strategy, I wonder?

Turkey culls poultry to stop spread of bird flu
23 Jan 2008 16:46:00 GMT
<!-- 23 Jan 2008 16:46:00 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove --> Source: Reuters

<!-- AN5.0 article title end -->
<script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.alertnet.org/bin/js/article.js"></script> <input value="13" name="CurrentSize" id="CurrentSize" type="hidden"> <!-- Turkey culls poultry to stop spread of bird flu --> <!-- Reuters --> ANKARA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Turkish authorities culled nearly 600 poultry in villages near the Black Sea coast on Wednesday after an outbreak of bird flu was reported there.

Turkey lies on the migratory route for wild birds flying south from Scandinavia and Siberia to north Africa for winter.

The Agriculture Ministry said checkpoints had been set up at the entrance to the villages and six culling centres had been built in Zonguldak province, where authorities identified the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in chickens on Tuesday.

"Culling work has been completed. A total of 570 chickens, 14 ducks and two geese have been culled and buried," the ministry said in a statement.

There are no reports of new cases, it said, adding that it believed the virus had spread to the poultry from wild ducks. Four people died from bird flu in eastern Turkey in 2006 after they came into contact with sick birds.

Although bird flu remains an animal disease, experts fear the virus could mutate into a form easily passed from human to human and kill millions.

An outbreak of bird flu in the winter of 2006 hit Turkey's tourism industry and seriously damaged the poultry sector. (Reporting by Selcuk Gokoluk, Editing by Peter Blackburn)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23672549.htm

[HenryN]

Re: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported in Turkish village

<TABLE height=16 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>New bird flu case reported in Turkey </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2><TABLE width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=right> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=resim-alt-yazi>Local government in Zonguldak's village of Saz began culling poultry due to some dead chickens found to be dead due to bird flu virus. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stated on Monday that several dead chickens found in a village in the northern province of Zonguldak during a routine inspection conducted on Jan. 19 tested positive for the bird flu virus.
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2><TABLE align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=right width=300 height=250></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The officials added that they were not yet sure whether the chickens found in the village were contaminated with the deadly strain, known as H5N1.
Zonguldak Governor Yavuz Erkmen has said that Saz was in quarantine, adding that teams from the local government had started culling poultry in the village for fear of a potential pandemic. "Measures are being taken to contain the disease. We have also imposed a ban on hunting winged animals across the city. As the village is rich in terms of wetlands it is an attractive spot for migrating birds, which we suspect is the cause of the new case," the governor said.
Experts are concerned that the strain, although difficult for people to contract, could potentially spark a pandemic by mutating into a form that spreads easily among humans.
Bird flu in Turkey
The first case of bird flu was discovered in Turkey in October 2005 at a turkey farm in the Kızıksa village, located in Balıkesir province. After a 21-day quarantine, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stated that the bird flu outbreak was completely stopped. However, it came back to public attention once again with an H5N1 outbreak in January 2006 in which 12 people were infected, four of whom died.
Three of the four people lost to the unexpected outbreak were siblings who were found to have had direct contact with sick chickens. Diagnosed in Ağrı's Doğubeyazıt district, Muhammed Ali, 14, Fatma, 15, and H?lya Ko?yiğit, 11, were immediately transferred to a better-equipped hospital in Van, where they died.
The second deadly case that followed the siblings was that of Fatma ?zcan. ?zcan, 12, who died on Jan. 15 in the same hospital in Van.
UN warning Dr. David Nabarro, the senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza at the United Nations headquarters in New York, made a statement on Nov. 29, 2007 stressing that the bird flu danger with a potential of turning into a pandemic was still a threat for the world, particularly for Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria and China, where the strain was still active in some regions, with Indonesia suffering from the worst cases.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=132239

[HenryN]

Re: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported in Turkish village

<TABLE height=16 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>Officials point to wild ducks as cause of bird flu in Zonguldak </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2><TABLE width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY></TBODY></TABLE>The governor of the northern province of Zonguldak has stated that several chickens in a village in the province were contaminated with a deadly strain of bird flu after they consumed a dead wild duck.

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2><TABLE align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=right width=300 height=250><TABLE width=300 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD width=300><OBJECT codeBase=http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0 width=300 align=right classid=clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000>
























<EMBED src="http://medya.todayszaman.com/todayszaman/images/isbank.swf" quality=high width="300px" bgcolor=#FFFFFF ALIGN="" TYPE="application/x-shockwave-flash" PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></EMBED> </OBJECT></TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>In a press conference held on Wednesday, Zonguldak Governor Yavuz Erkmen said the necessary measures had been taken to contain a potential pandemic, and pointed to wild ducks as the source of the disease. "After a series of analyses, we found out that the disease broke out after a family ate a wild duck and gave the leftovers to their chickens. The H5N1 virus in the duck, which spread among the chickens, is the cause of the bird flu case in our province," he said.
Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stated on Monday that several dead chickens found in Zonguldak's Saz village during a routine inspection conducted on Jan. 19 tested positive for the bird flu virus. The village was immediately put under quarantine, and teams from the local government started culling poultry in the village.
"Some 600 chickens, ducks and turkeys have been culled so far. Members of the family who consumed the wild duck in question are currently receiving medical care. Everything is under control; thus, there is nothing to fear," stated Erkmen.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has halted imports of meat and diary products from Turkey, after the bird flu case in Zonguldak. Expressing they cannot receive an official explanation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States (FAO), Azerbaijani officials said they have suspended importing meat and diary products from Turkey.
Bird flu claims one life in Vietnam
Bird flu was responsible for the death of a man in northern Vietnam, marking the country's first human case this year, health officials said yesterday.
An official from the provincial Preventive Medicine Center announced that the 32-year-old man from Tuyen Quang province died last week, two days after being admitted to the National Tropical Disease Hospital in Hanoi province. He said the man developed bird flu symptoms after slaughtering and cooking six geese and two chickens that had died on his farm on Jan. 9.
"The tests on the poultry came back positive for the H5N1 virus. Specimens taken from his family members and neighbors have tested negative for the virus. We have disinfected his house and surrounding areas," noted the official. This is the country's 48th reported death since the virus began spreading across Asia in late 2003.
</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right colSpan=2>24.01.2008
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=132320

[HenryN]

Re: Turkish village: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported

AVIAN INFLUENZA, POULTRY VS MIGRATORY BIRDS: TURKEY (ZONGULDAK)
************************************************** **********
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Fri 25 Jan 2008
Source: Zaman [edited]
<http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=132320>


Officials point to wild ducks as cause of bird flu in Zonguldak
-------------------------------------------------------------
The governor of the northern province of Zonguldak has stated that
several chickens in a village in the province were contaminated with
a deadly strain of bird flu after they consumed a dead wild duck. In
a press conference held on Wednesday [23 Jan 2008], Zonguldak
Governor Yavuz Erkmen said the necessary measures had been taken to
contain a potential pandemic, and pointed to wild ducks as the source
of the disease.

"After a series of analyses, we found out that the disease broke out
after a family ate a wild duck and gave the leftovers to their
chickens. The H5N1 virus in the duck, which spread among the
chickens, is the cause of the bird flu case in our province," he said.

Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stated
on Monday [21 Jan 2008] that several dead chickens found in
Zonguldak's Saz village during a routine inspection conducted on 19
Jan 2008 tested positive for the bird flu virus. The village was
immediately put under quarantine, and teams from the local government
started culling poultry in the village.

"Some 600 chickens, ducks and turkeys have been culled so far.
Members of the family who consumed the wild duck in question are
currently receiving medical care. Everything is under control; thus,
there is nothing to fear," stated Erkmen.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has halted imports of meat and diary products
from Turkey, after the bird flu case in Zonguldak. Expressing they
cannot receive an official explanation from the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United States (FAO), Azerbaijani officials said
they have suspended importing meat and diary products from Turkey.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall

[I suspect that the domestic poultry were not given the leftovers
from the cooked wild duck but that the feathers, feet, and unused raw
viscera were tossed out into the yard, from which their domestic
chickens acquired the virus, if that were the route. An observant
reader will note however that no ducks have been tested. Only dead
domestic chickens have been tested and the Ministerial presumption
then made that it had all started from this culinary duck. There are
no reports of sick or dead wild ducks.

On the other hand in the earlier years of H5N1 the ducks were dying
at a high rate but in recent years that has changed, and now ducks
can be asymptomatic shedders of the virus; (see Songserm T, Jun-on R,
Sae-Heng N, Meemak N, Hulse-Post DJ, Sturm-Ramirez KM, et al.
Domestic ducks and H5N1 influenza epidemic, Thailand. Emerg Infect
Dis 2006
Apr <http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no04/05-1614.htm >) A common
and long standing epidemiologist problem is to invoke theory in the
absence of hard data. We have to look harder than take the easy
speculation route.

To find Zonguldak, go to:
<http://www.fallingrain.com/world/TU/0/Zonguldak.html> It is on the
north coast of Turkey and on the Black Sea coast. - Mod.MHJ]

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Turkish village: New bird flu case [in poultry] reported

Unconfirmed reports on dead birds in other parts in Turkey; this is from Georgia.

Bird flu fears after Turkey reports cases

Friday, January 25

Authorities said they are taking preventive measures in Georgia to protect against the spread of bird flu after the deadly H5N1 virus was discovered on the Turkish Black Sea coast.

The Turkish Agriculture Ministry announced on January 23 that nearly 600 chickens, geese and ducks have been culled in villages near the Black Sea coast, according to Reuters.

The same day, acting agriculture minister Petre Tsiskarishvili told journalists that prevention measures were being implemented in Adjara province and that all vehicles entering the country through the Sarpi checkpoint on the Turkish border near Batumi were being disinfected.

“We are carrying out all the necessary measures to protect our territory, and we are also holding training sessions for government employees in regional departments of the agriculture ministry,” he said.

Tsiskarishvili added that regional departments are fully equipped to deal with the threat, and there is a hotline which farmers can call if they suspect their fowl have been infected.

“Many dead birds have been found in Turkey over the past two days, every car is getting disinfected in Turkey and the government is taking the issue seriously,” Sutic Suervoghlu, a Turkish truck driver, told the Rustavi 2 television station yesterday.

Avtandil Tsertsvadze, director of the poultry production company Koda, told the Messenger that their livestock is well-protected, and everything is being done to minimize the risk of infection.

“Our factory and our birds are protected from any external diseases, they don’t come into contact with anybody,” he said.

Turkey was hit by an outbreak of bird flu in 2006, in which six people died in the east of the country.

Soso Kartsivadze a representative from the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources, said that the danger is minimal as the infected birds in Turkey were domestic.

“[This] limits the risk that the virus will be brought by wild birds from Turkey to Georgia,” Kartsivadze said.

http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/1532_january_25_2008/1532_bird_flu.html