Avian flu quarantine in a village near the Turkish Greece

village in north-western Turkey, near the border with Greece, after the discovery of avian flu virus in chicken, reported Tuesday the agency Anatolia. The virus has been detected in the village of Esetçe, in the region of Ipsala, near the Greek border, after the death of several chickens, "said Deputy préfete the region Aylin Kirci. "Everything is under control," said the manager who has, however, ordered a quarantine for the small village where the entry and exit of poultry have been banned. At least two confirmed cases of avian flu virus have been registered since the beginning of the year in Turkey. Bird flu has killed four children in January 2006 in a small town in eastern Turkey before they spread throughout more than one third of 81 Turkish provinces. Turkey was the first country outside the areas in the east and south-east Asia where people have died of H5N1 virus. According to figures from the World Health Organization, since 2003, H5N1 has already resulted in 235 deaths around the world. The WHO fears that the outbreak of bird flu from developing into a devastating pandemic due to a mutation of the H5N1 virus that would make it highly contagious from person to person.