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Turkey faces prolonged bird flu threat - senior vet
11 Oct 2005 13:51:14 GMT
Source: Reuters
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ANKARA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Turkey faces a prolonged high risk of further outbreaks of avian flu as it lies in the path of migrating birds, a top veterinary official said on Tuesday. At the weekend, Ankara confirmed an outbreak of the highly contagious disease on a farm near the Aegean Sea in northwestern Turkey, triggering a virtually pan-European ban on imports of all Turkish live birds and feathers. Teams of veterinary experts have been culling thousands of birds within a 3-km (2-mile) quarantine zone around the farm, where some 1,870 turkeys died of the disease last week. "The bird flu virus is spread by migrating birds," the state Anatolian news agency quoted Mustafa Altuntas, head of the Turkish Veterinarians' Union, as saying. "As Turkey welcomes thousands of migrating birds, there is a great possibility that the bird flu virus will spread to other wetlands in Turkey," he said. The infected farm, in the district of Manyas in northwestern Turkey, is near one of the country's largest bird sanctuaries. Many of the migratory birds there have flown in from Russia, which has suffered from avian influenza in recent months. Altuntas said bird flu would not be a temporary problem and he urged the authorities to prepare for a long battle. "Since birds fly to the northern hemisphere from the south during spring, the Turkish agriculture ministry must take the necessary steps to deal with an epidemic and boost the number of veterinarians to about 6,000 from the present 2,000," he said. Turkish officials have tried to play down any possible connection between the Manyas outbreak and the epidemic caused by the H5N1 virus, which has killed millions of birds and 65 people in Asia since 2003. The H5N1 virus is the most deadly of a number of known versions of bird flu. Scientists fear the virus, known to pass to humans from birds, could mutate and be passed among humans. A senior Turkish farm official said the authorities were taking all necessary steps to prevent the disease spreading. "All our wetlands are under inspection, under control. Farm ministry staff are visiting areas around the wetlands and local farmers are being told to inform us if they see anything suspicious," Deputy Undersecretary Nihat Padkil told Reuters. He said veterinary experts would kill a further 1,500 turkeys and chickens on Tuesday, bringing the total number culled so far to 6,000. The culling is expected to continue for about three weeks, officials said on Monday. Padkil said the government would compensate producers for their losses, adding that the total sum should not exceed 100,000 new Turkish lira ($74,150). The Anatolia agency quoted Farm Minister Mehdi Eker as saying: "We are ready to deal with bird flu in every way." ($1=1.349 new Turkish lira)
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