Iraq tests for bird flu after man dies in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Mar 27 (Reuters) Iraqi medical authorities ordered tests for the H5N1 bird flu virus on samples from a man who died in Baghdad, a Health Ministry source said today.

No further details were available.

A number of suspected cases of the virus in Iraq have turned out to be false alarms. At least two fatal cases of human bird flu -- in a teenage girl and her uncle in January -- were confirmed in the northern province of Sulaimaniya.

Bird flu is essentially an animal disease, but can infect people who come into contact with infected poultry.

It has killed 105 people in eight countries since it re-emerged in late 2003, according to figures from the World Health Organisation.

Experts fear the virus will mutate to a point where it passes easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic in which millions could die.

Reuters SI BD2145