Iraq Tests For Bird Flu After Girl Dies In North

A municipal official collects poultry for destruction in a suburban of Istanbul, 13 January (epa) 18 January 2006 -- Health officials in northern Iraq have asked Jordanian researchers to test for the lethal bird flu virus H5N1 in the body of a 14-year-old girl who died on 17 January in the Kurdish city of Al-Sulaymaniyah.

The health minister in the regional government, Muhammad Khashnov, said Tijan Abdel-Qader died on arrival at the hospital on 17 January after falling ill on 2 January in her home town of Raniya, which lies close to the Turkish and Iranian borders.

An Iraqi Health Ministry spokesman confirmed the suspected case and a senior central government health official in Baghdad confirmed that a team has been dispatched to investigate.

(Reuters)

Affected Areas

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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