Turkey outbreak 'underscores seriousness of bird flu threat'

The World Health Organisation today rejected suggestions that it was overplaying the threat posed by bird flu, saying the recent outbreak in Turkey underscored the seriousness of the deadly disease.

Turkey’s 21 confirmed human cases of bird flu and four deaths, which occurred with little prior warning of infection in poultry, “reiterates the threat of a pandemic in influenza in humans,” WHO Dr Lee Jong-Wook said.