Women may have bird flu

GERMAN health authorities examined two women for possible bird flu infection yesterday, though the country’s main public health institute said they were very unlikely to have contracted the disease.

If confirmed the infections would be the first in Europe in the latest epidemic, which has so far killed 12 people and affected 10 countries in Asia.

The ambulance service in the northern port city of Hamburg said a female holidaymaker returning to Germany from a holiday in Thailand was being checked for bird flu symptoms.