Quds, March 17, SPA-- Initial laboratory tests indicated that a flock of turkeys that died on two farms in southern Israel were infected with the H5N1 flu virus, an agriculture ministry official said on Friday, according to Reuters. "Based on initial laboratory tests ... it is reasonable to conclude that this is the virus," said Dr Shimon Pokomonsky, an expert on bird diseases from the agriculture ministry who is conducting tests on the dead birds. He said it could take up to 48 hours to isolate the virus to get final confirmation. More than 10,000 turkeys died on the two farms over the past few days, prompting the agriculture ministry to quarantine the area pending test results. "We are still conducting tests but at this point based on the information that I have there is a very high likelihood that it is the (H5N1) bird flu," said Health Minister Yaakov Edri. "We are talking about H5N1 which is deadly in fowl, and I emphasise in fowl," he told Army radio. Radio stations said culling of fowl within a 10-km area of the two farms could start later on Friday. The H5N1 strain of bird flu has spread with alarming speed in recent weeks across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia.
