Bird flu outbreak slows down in Turkey

A bird flu outbreak that killed four children in Turkey this month seems to have stabilised after authorities destroyed 1.5 million fowl to contain the virus, and no human cases have been reported since January 18.

But the country still faces a threat from the lethal H5N1 bird flu strain. Although it has not proved as deadly in Turkey as in East Asia – where more than half of those infected have died – UN experts warn that does not mean the virus was becoming less dangerous.