WHO warns of bird flu pandemic risk

TURKEY yesterday reported two new cases of people infected with deadly bird flu as a top World Health Organisation (WHO) official warned that the threat of a pandemic was growing daily.

The H5N1 virus has been found in wild birds and poultry across large parts of Turkey, particularly in poor villages stretching from Istanbul at the gates of Europe to Van near the Iranian and Iraqi borders. It has killed at least two children.

The Health Ministry said tests showed that the virus was in the lungs of a third Turkish child who died last week, the sister of the two dead teenagers confirmed as bird flu victims.