World News Turkey scrambles to stop bird flu

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ANKARA (AP) - Turkey raced to contain an outbreak of bird flu Jan. 10, destroying 300,000 chickens and shouting warnings from mosque loudspeakers, after tests showed at least 15 people have been infected with the deadly H5N1 strain.

Turkey's 15 cases in one week is a record for the bird flu outbreak. Never before has such a high number of cases been seen in such a short time in Asia, where nearly all the deaths have occurred.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed the notion that "an idea of panic was created, as though the country was invaded."

"Everything is under control," he said, adding that Turkey had no shortage of vaccine or medicines.

Erdogan spoke during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whose government said Jan. 10 up to 77 Japanese - most of them chicken farm workers - may have become infected by H5N2, a less potent strain not previously known to infect humans.

The bird flu outbreak comes at a difficult time for Turkey. The country has been eager to join the European Union, and its image is marred by allegations of human rights abuses against minority Kurds.

トルコ、感染への対応急ぐ

鳥インフルエンザが確認されたトルコでは、30万羽のニワトリを処分するなど、感染への対応を急いでいる。

Shukan ST: Jan. 20, 2006

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