KurdistanObserver.com

Kurd Dies With Bird Flu Symptoms In Sulaimani

Reuters-Jan 29, 3-2006- A man showing symptoms of bird flu died in Iraqi Kurdistan and his samples have been sent to Jordan for testing.

Hamma Sour Abdullah, 40, died Friday in Sulaimani. He was the uncle of a 14-year-old girl, who also died flu-like symptoms, but who subsequent tests established did not have the H5N1 virus.

"We decided to send the samples of the man to the WHO laboratory in Amman to make sure that he had not died of H5N1 virus," Imad Ahmad, a senior official with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party administering the city, told reporters Saturday.

He said Abdullah died after suffering for a few days from a pulmonary infection.

Turkey, which has 21 cases of the flu, is the only country outside the Far East that has reported fatalities from the virus.

Health officials in Iraq's three Kurdish provinces, which border Turkey, say a number of measures are being taken to stop the spread of the virus. These include decontaminating trucks crossing the border, banning the import of Turkish poultry and prohibiting the sale of live chickens inside Kurdistan.

There is also a major public awareness campaign urging people to take precautions, including cooking instructions to minimize the risk of infection.

Iraq's Kurdish provinces are a major poultry producing region supplying chickens and eggs for much of the rest of the country.

Scientists fear that the more the virus spreads, the greater the chance H5N1 will mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans. This could spark a global pandemic that could claim millions of lives.

The toll from the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has climbed to 80 people worldwide since 2003.