Turkey has culled 1.107 million fowl so far to combat bird flu spread in the country, Turkish National Coordination Center for Bird Flu announced on Thursday.

According to the center, bird flu was detected in 13 provinces and 24 localities in Turkey while suspected bird flu cases were reported in 28 provinces and 73 localities.

The provinces where bird flu was detected are as follows: Igdir, Erzurum, Agri, Sanliurfa, Erzincan, Bitlis, Yozgat, Ankara, Bursa, Istanbul, Van, Aydin and Kars.

So far, there are 21 people confirmed of infecting bird flu in Turkey, among whom four children have died since.

The virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed about 80 people in Asia since its latest outbreak in late 2003.

Experts fear that the disease, which currently jumps from birds to humans, might mutate into a form that can easily transmit among humans, which would lead to a global pandemic, killing millions.

Source: Xinhua