Labs confirm teenagers had bird flu strain

An 11-year-old girl died today of suspected bird flu in eastern Turkey – days after her brother and sister succumbed to the disease – and their doctor said they probably contracted the illness by playing with dead chickens.

Scientists were closing in on identifying the virus as the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu that has already killed more than 70 people in East Asia since 2003, said a spokeswoman for the World Health Organisation in Geneva.