Turkey says its neighbors covering up bird flu - TURKEY - Turkey said on Friday its battle against a bird flu outbreak in people and poultry was being made harder by the failure of neighboring countries to admit to having the deadly H5N1 virus.

"It is unofficially known that this illness exists in our neighboring countries which are ruled by closed regimes, but these countries do not declare this because of their systems," Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker told a news conference. He did not name the countries but Iran and Syria are two likely targets of the criticism. Health experts are concerned neighboring countries are not taking enough preventive measures against bird flu.

Eker urged governors of Turkey's eastern provinces to be extra vigilant. Turkey has reported at least four deaths from the virus this month, bringing the H5N1 strain to the gates of Europe and the Middle East. The epicenter of Turkey's outbreak is in the east of the country bordering Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Armenia.

Iran has said there had been no sign of the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu on its territory. However, it has slaughtered tens of thousands of birds within 15 km (10 miles) of the Turkish border. It also banned the sale of Turkish fowl and closed the border to day trippers.

Iraq has sent experts to the Kurdish region in the north of the country to search for signs of bird flu after the death of a teenage girl from a fever this week caused panic. The World Health Organization has said she did not have the deadly virus. Syria has culled birds near the border with Turkey, but has said the birds had showed no sign of illness.

Turkey has culled more than 1.1 million wild birds and poultry since the outbreak began two weeks ago, Eker said. Up to a third of the country is suspected of having bird flu among poultry and the Turks have reported 21 human cases, including the four deaths. Bird flu is known to have killed at least 80 people since late 2003. Victims contract the virus from close contact with infected birds, but there are fears it could mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic in which millions could die.

Source: Reuters - 20th January 2006