Turkish lab tests three villagers for bird flu

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Feb 12 (Reuters) Three people will be tested for bird flu after they reported feverish symptoms in a south eastern Turkish village where there has been an outbreak of the deadly virus, a state-run laboratory said.

The three were taken from the village of Bogazkoy in the province of Batman on Saturday and put under observation at the medical department at Dicle University in Diyarbakir.

Authorities were suspicious their high fevers and flu-like symptoms were caused by the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which was confirmed as the killer of 170 chickens in their village on Friday.

Yesterday Turkey's Ministry of Health reported tests on a separate fourth possible bird flu case in Bogazkoy had proved negative, the semi-official Anatolian news agency said.

No human cases have yet been reported since the bird flu outbreak last week.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed four human deaths in Turkey from H5N1 last year -- all of them children from the town of Dogubayazit near the Iranian border. More than 160 people worldwide have died of the virus since 2003.

Scientists fear the H5N1 virus could mutate to a form easily transmitted from human to human. Because people would lack immunity, it could then sweep the world, killing millions.

Victims usually contract bird flu through direct exposure to diseased or dead poultry. Experts believe migratory birds originally brought the virus to Turkey and Europe from Asia and Russia, infecting domestic poultry.

REUTERS PDM HS0912