Birdflu-wary Cyprus bans duck hunting

NICOSIA - Cyprus has imposed a ban on hunting wild ducks after an outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus in neighbouring Turkey.

Cyprus, an EU member and Turkey's southern neighbour, lies on a bird migratory route and has a powerful hunting lobby.

Turkey yesterday said a total of 14 people across the country had tested positive for bird flu, including three children who died last week. Health experts fear human exposure to avian influenza could lead to the emergence of a mutation which would transmit between humans, triggering a global epidemic of a virulent strain of flu.

"Duck hunting will be banned, temporarily, since migratory birds is the most likely way of transmitting the virus," Timmy Efthymiou, agriculture minister in Cyprus' Greek Cypriot government, told reporters.

"Panic is in no way justified," he said.

Authorities in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot northern Cyprus, which has close ties with Ankara, imposed a ban on poultry imports from Turkey when the first avian influenza outbreak was reported among birds last October.

- REUTERS