Azeri official says family may have bird flu
04 Mar 2006 17:38:04 GMT

BAKU, March 4 (Reuters) - A top official in Azerbaijan said on Saturday a family of six people could have contracted bird flu, although it was too early to be sure.

"The preliminary diagnosis is severe pneumonia but this is a suspicious case," said Abbas Velibeyev, deputy health minister, on ATV television.

When asked if the family, which keeps chickens and has seen two children die in the last month, was suffering from bird flu, he said: "there is such a possibility."

Azerbaijan, which lies at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, discovered the H5N1 strain of bird flu among wild birds last month. Bird flu has since affected a poultry farm near the capital Baku.