H5N1 'most likely' to have killed Turkish teen

A Turkish teenager who died of bird flu most likely succumbed to the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, a senior World Health Organisation official said today.

Samples have been tested by two different laboratories in Turkey and “it turned out to be positive, and because it’s so specific it’s unlikely we’re dealing with false positives”, said Guenael Rodier, a special adviser on communicable diseases at WHO’s European headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.