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EU Identifies Turkey Bird Flu As Deadly H5N1 Strain
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Health officials say 19 people, mostly children, have been
hospitalized with flu-like symptoms in eastern city of Van 





The European Commission says its laboratory tests have confirmed that
the bird flu outbreak in poultry in eastern Turkey is the deadly H5N1
strain.

But a Commission statement Saturday says further testing is needed to
determine whether the recent deaths in Turkey related to the bird flu
outbreak were caused by the H5N1 strain.

The Commission's statement came Saturday as Turkish authorities worked
to contain the bird flu outbreak.

Health officials say 19 people, mostly children, have been
hospitalized with flu-like symptoms in the eastern city of Van. They
say another six people were hospitalized on suspicion of contracting
the deadly disease in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir.

The World Health Organization already has said that two siblings died
of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Turkey this week. Tests are being
conducted to see if a third sibling who died Friday also carried that
deadly strain.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, and Reuters.


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