Ankara, Turkey: Laboratory tests in Turkey have confirmed the H5 subtype of the bird flu virus in 14 patients, Turkey's health minister Recep Akdag said.
Two of the patients have died, he told reporters.
Most of those affected are children and all have been hospitalised, the World Health Organisation said on its Website.
Of five cases reported, three are from Ankara Province and include two brothers, ages 5 and 2 years, and a 60-year-old man, the ministry said.
The two other cases, a 9-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother, are from the Dogu Beyazit district of Agri Province, and are hospitalized in the city of Van.
The five cases announced Monday are from Kastamonu, Corum and Samsun provinces, along the Black Sea in the north-central part of the country, and from Van Province.
WHO said it would add the numbers to its total after confirmation by another laboratory. But the organization said the findings from the Turkey's National Influenza Center would likely be confirmed.
Since H5N1 — the deadly virus that has ravaged poultry flocks in China and Southeast Asia — is the only strain within the H5 subtype known to infect people, all of the H5 cases are expected to be H5N1.
A WHO team, accompanied by Akdag, arrived Sunday night in Van Province and is investigating the situation, "assessing risk factors and control measures, and discussing with local authorities the possible need for additional equipment and supplies," WHO said.
The team will also assess some 38 patients at the Van hospital "for possible H5N1 infection."
So far, there is no evidence that the virus is spreading from person to person, the international health organization said. "Almost all have a documented link to dead or diseased poultry," it added.
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