Tests in Turkey rule out bird flu

TESTS on five people, including a dead child, for possible bird flu in eastern Turkey have proved negative, a health ministry official said yesterday.

The child tested for bird flu died on Sunday. He was one of several people from the same district who underwent tests in Van hospital near the Iranian border after exhibiting symptoms of influenza.

“The tests on samples from the dead child and four other people suspected [of having bird flu] came back negative,” the ministry’s basic health services general manager Turan Buzgan said.