Turkey, Romania Report First Cases of Avian Flu

ISTANBUL, Turkey — The agriculture minister Saturday confirmed the country’s first cases of avian flu and ordered the destruction of all birds in the village where it was detected to prevent the disease from spreading, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Military police also set up roadblocks at the village near Balikesir in western Turkey, 250 miles from Istanbul. The officers checked vehicles to make certain no birds were being brought in or taken out.

Cases of bird flu were also confirmed Saturday in Romania, which borders Turkey.

Ion Agafitei, Romania’s chief veterinarian, told reporters three birds had tested positive in the Danube delta village of Smardan after the first cases emerged in another village on Friday.

Quarantines were imposed on the two affected villages and five others that had suspicious bird deaths in recent days. No livestock may be taken from the delta to market.

In Ceamurlia de Jos, a few miles from the Black Sea, men with white masks poisoned dozens of birds with carbon dioxide before burning them.

“Nobody dares to eat poultry here after what happened,” Mihai Carciumaru, the mayor of the Romanian village, said.

Humans can catch the virus through contact with infected birds, but eating cooked chicken is safe, scientists say.

The Turkish outbreak was confirmed by Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker, who said officials were communicating with the European Union and other international organizations, Anatolia reported.

Anatolia quoted officials who said the birds in Turkey had died of the H5 type of bird flu -- but it was not clear whether it is the exact strain that health officials are concerned about.

Only a few strains of bird flu are deadly and experts are tracking a strain known as H5N1, which has swept through poultry populations in Asia since 2003. It has resulted in the deaths of more than 100 million birds. At least 60 people, mostly poultry workers, have been killed and others infected.

There is evidence that human-to-human transmission of H5N1 may have occurred, but it was limited to a family in Thailand. Scientists fear the virus could mutate and spread among humans, causing a pandemic.

The Turkish farmers were to be compensated for their losses.

Eker, the Turkish agriculture minister, said the flu was probably carried by birds migrating from the Ural Mountains, which divide Europe and Asia, across Turkey and into Africa.