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Bird flu claims two lives in Turkey

VAN (Turkey): A Turkish teenager whose brother died of bird flu succumbed to the disease on Thursday, a doctor said. A senior World Health Organization official said tests pointed to a strain scientists fear could trigger a global human epidemic.

If confirmed, the brother and sister would be the first human cases of the H5N1 strain in Turkey, as the virus moves westward from the far eastern corner of Asia. Guenael Rodier, a special adviser on communicable diseases at WHO's European headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, said samples from the brother had been tested by two laboratories in Turkey and ``it turned out to be positive [for H5N1], and because it's so specific it's unlikely we're dealing with false positives. There's no reason to believe it's wrong.''

Specimens are now on their way to centres in Britain, where the initial test results will be checked, Mr. Rodier told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Fatma Kocyigit (15) died in a hospital in this eastern Turkish city, four days after the death of her 14-year-old brother, Mehmet Ali Kocyigit, the Anatolia new agency reported, citing Ahmet Faik Oner, the doctor who treated the siblings.

Their 11-year-old sister, Hulya, was hospitalised with suspected bird flu. — AP

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