More suspected poultry deaths, govt confirm H5N1 virus killed 170 fowl

SHOTLIST 1. Various of area cordoned off by police 2. Various of men in protective clothing disinfecting area 3. Close-up of man's boots and shovels 4. Various of man in protective clothing putting grit in blue bag 5. Mid of poster giving advice on bird flu 6. Various of poultry in village STORYLINE: An area in the town of Gercus was cordoned off and disinfected by the authorities, on Saturday, as a precaution against bird flu, after nine dead geese were found. Officials were not available to comment on whether the geese, found in the village in the southeastern province of Batman, had died of bird flu. Earlier on Saturday, Turkey's Health Ministry said that three children with flu symptoms, who were hospitalised after authorities detected avian flu in the nearby village of Bogazkoy, did not have the deadly virus. Further tests were however, being carried out on a fourth child. The children were hospitalised on Thursday as a precaution after authorities detected the deadly H5N1 virus in 170 dead fowl in Bogazkoy, about 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) away from Gercus. Authorities have quarantined three villages in Batman and culled at least 1,650 birds since the outbreak. Experts worry the H5N1 strain of the virus, which remains hard for people to catch, will mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, potentially sparking a pandemic. So far, most cases of human infection have been traced to direct contact with infected birds. During an outbreak of H5N1 in Turkey in January 2006, 12 people were infected and four of them died. H5N1 has claimed at least 165 human lives worldwide since it began spreading through Asian poultry farms in late 2003, according to the World Health Organisation. Authorities were investigating whether the virus might have been brought by migratory birds. Experts suspect the current spread of bird flu in Asia, Africa and Europe is mainly a result of trade in infected live birds rather than transmission through wild birds, the United Nations official coordinating the global fight against avian influenza said. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/7850bb688db8fe15d03535193cf292fe Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork