IRAN REPORTS SUSPECTED BIRD FLU DEATHS
Armenpress
May 23 2006
TEHRAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS; Medical officials in Iran say local
tests indicate two people have died of bird flu. If confirmed by
international laboratories, they will be the country’s first deaths
from the H5N1 strain of the disease.
A 41-year-old man and his 26-year-old sister are among five members of
the same family who became sick after returning from a trip to the town
of Marivan, close to their home in the northwestern city of Kermanshah.
Officials say the three surviving relatives are in hospital and one
of them remains dangerously ill. A number of Iran’s neighbors have
reported deaths from the virus in recent months. Bird flu has killed
at least 123 people, mostly in Asia, since December 2003.