WHO calms bird flu fear in Iraq

The World Health Organisation (WHO) attempted to calm bird flu fear across Iraq which has made people flee from some regions while in other areas a massive culling of birds was being carried out.

"At this moment this is just an agricultural emergency and still I can say that not every chicken is infected with avian influenza," said Dr Sam Yingst, a member of a WHO team who came to Baghdad after touring the northern Kurdistan area where the disease broke out last month.

Yingst, a veterinary virologist from Cairo, said the panic created by the first case had set off an extensive culling of poultry and birds across Iraq.

"At the moment the culling is extensive. Tens of thousands of birds have been killed in Arbil and around 200,000 in Sulaimaniyah," Yingst told reporters.

Ibtisam Aziz, spokeswoman of the government's Avian Influenza Technical Affairs Committee said the girl's uncle was still a suspect. There were also two other suspected cases in Sulaimaniyah and six in Amara.