Italy’s Concern Spreads Over Bird Flu Reports

Organizers of the Turin Games have their share of headaches: empty stands, snarled traffic to venues, doubts about the conditions of ski slopes. The last thing they needed: an outbreak of bird flu.

Italian authorities have confirmed the presence of the deadly virus in several wild swans in southern Italy. They are fielding calls from across the country over additional suspect cases. One hotline has, since Monday, taken 13,000 calls, reporting dead birds or asking advice.

Authorities -- in the north where the Olympics are underway and elsewhere in the country -- emphasize that there is no danger to humans. The cases thus far have been in migratory birds. That has not stopped panic among Italians and questions to Olympic organizers over the potential for an epidemic.

Agricultural industry officials report a precipitous decline in the purchase and consumption of chicken by Italians. The question of whether the Piedmont region, where Turin is located, was at risk has surfaced at briefings by Olympic officials.

Mario Valpreda, a health official for the Piedmont region, said veterinarians had tested 11,000 domestic fowl and 400 wild birds since last autumn and detected no traces of the disease.

The World Health Organization says 91 people have been killed by bird flu in Asia and Turkey since 2003, but the deadly strain of the virus was not detected in Western Europe until the last couple of weeks.

So far, experts say, it only passes from infected birds to humans and not from human to human.

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Tracy Wilkinson

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U.S. goaltender Rick DiPietro made his Olympic hockey debut against Kazakhstan Thursday, wearing a mask he said was designed to honor his father and the U.S. military.

The mask featured a reproduction of the famous World War II photograph in which U.S. Marines raised the American flag at Iwo Jima. The mask also included a salute to prisoners of war and a depiction of soldiers in the Vietnam War.

DiPietro, who plays for the New York Islanders, said his father was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. DiPietro also decorated his pads with stars and stripes.

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Bill Shaikin

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Two cross-country skiers received second five-day suspensions after failing another test for high hemoglobin levels, but a third skier was cleared to compete.

Natalia Matveeva and Nikolai Pankratov, both of Russia, were retested and suspended again, the International Ski Federation said. They could still compete next week if they can somehow lower their levels in time. Jean Marc Gaillard of France became the eighth of 12 skiers suspended last week to be cleared to race after passing another blood test.

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Hermann Maier planned to return to the Italian Alps to train for his last two Olympic events after four days at lower altitude to recover from a nagging sore throat, the Austrian skier’s agent said. Teammate Michael Walchhofer, Olympic downhill silver medalist, headed home after Austria left him off its four-man squad for Saturday’s super-G race.

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Figure skater Michelle Kwan has signed a multiyear deal to be a spokeswoman for The Walt Disney Co., the company said.

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Wilkinson contributed to this report from Rome.