WHO's director, Lee Jong-Wook, said the unique feature about the outbreak of avian flu in Turkey was the lack of prior warning about the infection in poultry.
Responding to what he said were concerns the WHO had exaggerated the threat of a human pandemic, Jong-Wook said the WHO was not overplaying the threat.
WHO experts plan to help countries near Turkey assess the risk of a bird-flu outbreak that they face. Those countries include Syria, Iran, Iraq, Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, China reported on 23 January that a tenth person had been diagnosed with the potentially fatal strain of the bird-flu virus. Some 82 people around the world have died of bird flu.
(Reuters, AFP)
Affected Areas
Click on the map for a closer view of the areas within RFE/RL's broadcast region where cases of diseased fowl have been confirmed. Last updated on February 20.
BIRD FLU, or avian influenza, continues to menace scattered areas from East Asia, where the disease first appeared, to Southeastern and Eastern Europe and beyond. Authorities around the world are bracing themselves -- and, more importantly, planning and taking measures to fight the disease wherever it appears.
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