DOGUBEYAZIT (Turkey), Jan 5: Turkey announced on Thursday that two teenagers from the same family died of bird flu in the east of the country, the first known human fatalities from the deadly disease outside of Southeast Asia and China, as officials scrambled to contain the outbreak.

Fatma Kocyigit, aged 15, died at 6:30am on Thursday, five days after her 14-year-old brother succumbed to the virus in the same hospital in the town of Van, the paediatrician treating them, Ahmet Faik Oner, was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

“Two people have therefore died of bird flu in Van,” the doctor said.

Fatma and her brother, Mohammed Ali Kocyigit, had been hospitalized at the weekend with fever, coughing and bleeding from the mouth after coming into contact with chicken that had been slaughtered after showing signs of the bird flu.

They are the first known human fatalities from the disease outside Southeast Asia and China, where it has killed more than 70 people since late 2003, nearly 40 of them in 2005 alone.

Twelve other people, including two members of the Kocyigit family, were being treated on Thursday for bird-flu like symptoms, a senior health ministry official, Turan Buzgan, told the NTV news channel.

They were being given Tamiflu, the only anti-flu treatment that has proved at all effective against the H5N1 virus strain.

Scientists say millions of people around the world could die if the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus mutates into a form easily passed between humans.

“We’re facing an important problem,” Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker told reporters on Thursday before flying out to Van.

“We should be hand in hand as a nation, we should calmly take all measures required by science and medicine and implement them without panicking,” he added.

Environment Minister Osman Pepe reimposed a ban on the hunting of wild birds in the east of the country in a bid to contain an outbreak which is suspected to have been brought by migratory birds.

The European Commission said it was closely watching the developments.—AFP