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BAGHDAD - The
dead uncle of an Iraqi Kurdish girl who died last
month after contracting the deadly bird flu virus
also had the virus, raising fears the H5N1 strain
could pass between humans.
The man died Jan. 27 in Iraq's northern Kurdistan
region and lived in the same house as his
15-year-old niece, who was confirmed as the
country's first bird flu-related death. They died 10
days apart.
A U.S. official confirmed yesterday that the uncle's
samples test positive for the bird flu. The official
said tests did not indicate if the uncle had caught
the virus from his niece.
There have been no confirmed cases of H5N1 mutating
into a virus capable of being passed directly
between humans. Experts fear that could lead to a
global pandemic.
Talib Ali Elam, the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization's Cairo-based regional officer for
animal health, said the girl's family and uncle kept
poultry in the Serkapkan district in Sulaimaniyah, a
Kurdish province in Kurdistan (northeastern Iraq).
After their deaths, authorities "culled all chicken,
geese, turkey, ducks in Serkapkan and 36 villages
around," said Elam.
AP
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