ANKARA, Turkey - Turkeyâs agriculture minister accused several neighboring countries on Friday of concealing bird flu outbreaks and hampering an effort to prevent the spread of the disease.Preliminary tests indicate that 21 people in Turkey have been infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, four of whom have died. The country has reported confirmed or suspected H5N1 outbreaks in poultry in 26 provinces, including areas just kilometers (miles) away from the borders with Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Georgia. Turkey also borders Bulgaria and European Union-member Greece.
âWe know through unofficial channels that the disease exists ... in neighboring countries, which are ruled by closed regimes,â Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker said during a meeting with governors of Turkeyâs 81 provinces. âThese countries do not officially declare the existence of the disease.â He did not name the countries. âThis is something that we need to be careful about,â Eker said, urging governors of border provinces to be especially vigilant.
As part of efforts to control the outbreak in poultry, the government has imposed quarantines, culled 1.1 million fowl and launched campaigns warning people to avoid contact with sick birds, Eker said.
The World Health Organization has said it expects the number of new bird flu infections among humans in Turkey to decline. âThe situation is getting better,â WHO spokeswoman Cristiana Salvi told The Associated Press Thursday. She warned, however, that it was still too early to say the crisis was over. âWe can expect a few more casesâ of infection, she said.
The UN health agency said on its Web site that âthe number of these cases is, however, expected to decline as high-risk behaviors become less common and culling operations ... reduce the number of infected birds.â By culling birds, Turkey hopes to limit contact with humans in this largely rural country, where most villagers raise their own chickens, turkeys and geese.