The Greek government said Tuesday that the final test result of a bird flu infection on turkeys found dead in a small farm will only be available in next week.

Minister of Agricultural Development and Foods Evangelos Basiakos told reporters that Greek authorities will know in seven days whether the turkeys found dead on a small poultry farm on the island of Oinousses were the victims of the deadly bird flu virus H5N1.

Within the next seven days the results from the viral tests being conducted by the national reference laboratory in Thessaloniki and the national reference laboratory in London will be available, he said.

Until then, the precautionary measures that have been adopted in the Prefecture of Chios will remain in force, he added.

Greece became the first EU country to be stricken by the bird flu after it announced on Monday that the first such case was found and identified in a small island of Chios Prefecture, but tests on whether the virus is the H5N1 which has killed 60 people in Asia is still underway.

Source: Xinhua