# 1601
Turkey learned a bitter lesson in the Spring of 2006 when (at least) 12 people contracted the bird flu virus, and 4 children died. Since then, they have acted swiftly whenever bird deaths are discovered.
Last month they reported a couple of small outbreaks in birds. Today, they fear another outbreak has occurred.
Suspected bird flu in northern Turkey: report
ANKARA (AFP) - Turkish authorities in the northern coastal town of Samsun have erected a quarantine zone and begun slaughtering poultry after suspected cases of bird flu, news agency Anatolia reported on Saturday.
"Samples have been taken and slaughtering has started within a given area. A 10-kilometre (six-mile) protection and observation zone has been set up, inside which health checks have begun," Anatolia cited a statement from local authorities as saying.
Disinfection sites are in operation around the Galeric area, where poultry from seven farms have been slaughtered, it said.
Last month the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was found in a village about 350 kilometres west of Samsun, which lies on Turkey's Black Sea coast.
