H5N1 bird flu still unconfirmed in Israel-official

BEIT DAGAN, Israel, Mar 18 (Reuters) An Israeli Agriculture Ministry official today said that Israeli poultry killed by bird flu were probably infected with the deadly H5N1 strain but confirmation would require further tests.

Officials yesterday said on Friday that thousands of poultry found dead on two southern Israel farms had been killed by the H5N1 strain of the virus, the country's first cases.

''We have isolated the H5 virus but we are still working to find out what N it is,'' Shimon Pokomonsky, a senior veterinarian at the Agriculture Ministry, told reporters at the Beit Dagan veterinary institute near Tel Aviv.

''We are not certain it is N1, although it most likely is,'' he said, referring to the deadly strain of the virus, which has killed 98 people worldwide since 2003.

REUTERS VJ RAI0122