Avian flu cases reported in Romania and Turkey

10/9/2005

BUCHAREST, Romania Romania and Turkey reported new cases of avian flu yesterday

and began culling hundreds of birds to prevent the globally feared disease from spreading.

If the Romanian cases turn out to be the deadly H5N1 virus, they would be the first evidence the strain has spread to Europe from Asia, where it has killed 65 people and millions of birds since 2003. Russia and Kazakhstan have had outbreaks.

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In Istanbul, Turkey's agriculture minister confirmed the country's first cases of bird flu and ordered the destruction of all birds in the village where it was detected to prevent the disease from spreading