Israel’s agriculture ministry confirmed today that the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu had spread to three locations in the Holy Land, where hundreds of thousands of turkeys and chickens were culled over the weekend.

Egypt reported its second human case of avian flu today while Israel continued its precautionary culling of hundreds of thousands of birds.

Israeli veterinary officials today proceeded with the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of turkeys and chickens as new tests came close to confirming Israel’s first outbreak of the deadly bird flu.