Govt accused of slow response to bird-flu crisis

Local officials in Turkey’s stricken south-east today accused the government of moving too slowly to combat bird flu when it was still confined to fowl as the number of people infected with the deadly H5N1 strain climbed to 18.

Mukkades Kubilay, the mayor of Dogubayazit – where three siblings died a week ago – complained that Ankara sent only three doctors to help and that there were not enough workers to help destroy chickens, ducks and geese as a precaution.