A regional official of the World Health Organization's (WHO) said on Wednesday that there is no reason to panic over bird flu in Turkey.

WHO regional director for Europe Dr. Marc Danzon made the remarks at a joint news conference with Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag upon his arrival in Turkey earlier in the day.

Danzon told the reporters that "health officials have been doing everything that is known to maintain and manage this difficult situation," adding "the situation has been taken seriously from the beginning in Turkey."

"The action in the country has been appropriate and the management of this crisis is at the level where it should be, and we are satisfied both by the type of action taken by the Ministry of Health and by the possibility of our team to act independently and with transparency," Danzon said.

The WHO official also commented that Turkish Ministry of Health had displayed a transparent attitude about the bird flu cases of which three people have already died in eastern Turkey.

"The people of the country need to perfectly understand that the danger is contact between sick or dead poultry and a human being, especially a child. This is the key point for the future. This is where we need to pass messages to the population and inform local leaders," Danzon stressed.

On whether countries should ban or restrict their citizens from traveling to Turkey, Danzon said there was no reason to take such measures, citing there were no signs that the deadly strain was being transmitted person to person.

"There is no transmission from human being to human being through a mutation that could cause a pandemic. We are not there at this point," he said.

However, Danzon noted that the risk was global and people need to exercise solidarity.

Meanwhile, Turkish Health Minister Akdag said that the situation was under control in the country.

"A total of 15 people were tested positive for bird flu. Unfortunately, three of them died. We hope that the number will not rise. The whole issue is not to contact birds and not to let kids contact them. Culling of fowl has been continuing," he noted.

Turkish Agriculture and Rural Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday that 306,000 winged animals have been culled across the country so far due to the bird flu.

While the initial outbreak was reported in eastern Turkey near the border with Armenia and Iran, officials announced on Sunday that flocks of domestic fowl had been infected in central Turkey, Istanbul and the Black Sea region. At least 11 of Turkey's 81 provinces have reported outbreaks of bird flu.

The renewed bird flu scare was triggered when three children from the same family died last week in the eastern city of Van after contracting the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease.

Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey with a population of some 12 million, is the westernmost point where the virus has been found since it resurfaced in Turkey last month.

Turkey reported its first bird flu outbreak in October 2005.

Experts fear that the highly contagious virus could mutate into a human strain that could cause a worldwide pandemic among human beings.

The H5N1 strain has so far killed over 70 people since it was first reported in Asia in 2003.

Source: Xinhua