A fourth child with flu-like symptoms has been hospitalized after deadly H5N1 bird flu virus had caused deaths of 170 poultry in a village in Turkey's southeastern province of Batman, local media reported on Saturday.

Authorities have quarantined four villages in the area and culled 924 birds after the outbreak of the virus was detected in the village of Bogazkoy among its poultry, as the Turkish Agricultural Ministry confirmed on Thursday that deaths of poultry were linked to H5N1 bird flu virus, the Milliyet daily newspaper reported.

A three-year-old child has been taken to a hospital in southeastern city of Diyarbakir, while three others, aged 2, 3 and 16, have been hospitalized in Batman, the report said.

Samples from the four children were being analyzed, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

"The results of the tests on the four will be analyzed and shared with the public. The general condition of those under observation is good. No patient has been confirmed as having bird flu yet," the statement said.

Last year, four children from the east of the country died from the H5N1 after coming into contact with chickens carrying the virus. Turkish authorities culled more than 1.3 million birds during outbreak.

Experts believe that migratory birds originally brought the virus to Turkey and Europe from Asia and Russia, infecting domestic poultry.

Source: Xinhua