At least two people in eastern Turkey have tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, reports say.

The country's health minister said a 14-year-old boy who died last weekend was found to have the disease, despite earlier results indicating otherwise.

The boy's sister, who is seriously ill in hospital, also tested positive. A third sibling has symptoms of bird flu.

This is the first time the H5N1 strain has been detected outside east Asia, where it has killed at least 70 people.

The boy, named as Mehmet Ali Kocyigit, died on Sunday in the city of Van in eastern Turkey.

He and his brothers and sisters lived and worked on a poultry farm in the town of Dogubayezit, close to the border with Iran.

Health Minister Recep Akdag said the family ate infected birds, which they kept in their home.

"There are two cases that have been confirmed as positive by the laboratory, said Mr Akdag.

"Another case is suspected of being positive. We have a pandemic plan ready. There is no need to be too alarmist."

Separate tests on samples collected from the family were carried out in two Turkish laboratories, medical officials said.

Murat Akova of Ankara's Hacetepe University said close contact with poultry was the likely cause of infection.

"People who have close contact with animals should receive special treatment but vaccinations of the wider population is not necessary for now," he said.

Migration path

Dr David Nabarro of the World Health Organisation urged caution among millions fearful of a global pandemic.

"This is not the start of the pandemic. The start of the pandemic starts when there is human to human transfer, confirmed and sustained," he said.

The H5N1 strain has been discovered in bird flocks in Turkey, Russia, Romania and Croatia, but had not previously spread to humans.

Turkey lies on the migration path of wild birds suspected of spreading the flu westwards from Asia.

So far the disease appears only to have infected people who live or work closely with birds, but health experts fear it could mutate and spread among human populations as easily as common influenza.

PHOTO CAPTION

Coffin of 14-year-old Turkish boy Mehmet Ali Kocyigit is taken into an ambulance from a hospital before burial in the eastern city of Van in Turkey, January 4, 2006. (REUTERS)

Source: BBC