THE Indonesian authorities are investigating whether a 20-year-old woman who lived near a flock of sick chickens died from bird flu after falling ill with symptoms of the disease, a hospital spokesman said yesterday.

An Indonesian women has died of suspected bird flu, a hospital spokesman said today, adding that tests would be carried out to confirm the cause of death.

Turkish authorities have ordered poultry farmers in a quarantined area in western Turkey to hand over birds for culling or face fines and possible jail sentences as Turkey tried to contain an outbreak of suspected bird flu.

A participant in an endurance contest with a truck as its prize walked away from the event on its third day, broke into a store, found a shotgun and killed himself, police said.

Foot-and-mouth tests on a sheep in Co Donegal have been confirmed negative, a spokesman from the Department of Agriculture has just revealed.