Three Died of Bird Flu in Azerbaijan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azeri authorities announced Monday that three persons died in the country from avian influenza. In the words of Azeri Health Ministry representative Samaya Mamedova, "preliminary analyses indicate that 3 persons who died earlier had the bird flu virus." At that Mamedova did not specify, whether the matter concerned H5N1 strain, earlier found in Turkey and Western Europe.



All victims were members of a family, living in Salyan region of Azerbaijan. They died in the regional hospital in early March. The British laboratory, where patterns of patient tissues are sent, has not confirmed the diagnosis. Earlier Azeri Health Ministry officials reported that some 100 people are taken to hospital with symptoms similar to those of the bird flu.



According to the World Health Organization, from the end of 2003 to March 2006 98 persons died in the world from the bird flu. The latest confirmed victim of the bird flu is a 12-year-old girl from Indonesia. From the beginning of 2006 virusH5N1, which is potentially dangerous for humans, was discovered in dead bird in Western Europe, Turkey, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran, as well as four African states - Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. Epidemiologists forecast the virus will transfer to the territory of North America during spring migration. US Department of Agriculture uses information from its military intelligence satellites to monitor movement of birds of passage from Asia to Alaska through Siberia. However, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns stated, "we cannot build a large cage and prevent birds from come flying to the US," Lenta.ru reports.