Turkey destroys 9.7 million fowl

Turkey has destroyed 9.7 million fowl to fight an outbreak of deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, the Anatolia news agency reported today.

Turkey appears to be winning the battle against the bird flu outbreak that killed four children last month, with no new human cases reported since January 18, but experts warned that the lethal H5N1 strain could still pose a serious threat to the country.

Turkey has destroyed 1.7 million fowl in affected areas across the country and separately culled 8 million old fowl at poultry farms as a precaution, Anatolia said.