French woman free from bird flu

PARIS - A French woman who was hospitalised on the weekend has tested negative for bird flu, the French health ministry said.

Earlier today, France said it was investigating a possible case of bird flu in the woman who had returned from a two-week stay in the Tarsus region in Turkey.

The woman, who had seen dead birds while travelling in Turkey, showed symptoms of flu combined with breathing difficulties and was hospitalised in Montpellier.

Several tests were done to establish if she was affected by the virus but all the results were negative, the ministry said in a statement.

Tarsus, in Turkey's East Mediterranean part, is not known to have been affected by the disease, the ministry said.

Turkey has reported at least four deaths from the H5N1 strain of bird flu this month, bringing the strain to the gates of Europe and the Middle East. The epicentre of Turkey's outbreak is in the east, near to Syria, Iraq, Iran and Armenia.

The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed at least 80 people since late 2003. Victims contract the virus through close contact with sick birds, but there are fears it could mutate into a form that can pass easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic.

The French government earlier this month tightened its own protection measures against a possible outbreak of the virus. It has raised the number of departments where poultry must be kept inside to 58 -- almost two-thirds of the country -- from 26.

- REUTERS