By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An 11-year-old girl died Friday of suspected bird flu in eastern Turkey _ days after her brother and sister succumbed to the disease. Their doctor said they probably contracted the illness by playing with dead chickens.
The condition of a fourth ill child from the same family had improved considerably and the boy was no longer attached to a respirator, said Huseyin Avni Sahin, head physician at the hospital in the eastern city of Van where the children were being treated. Three other people, however, were in serious condition, he told The Associated Press.
A hospital official said up to 30 other people were being treated for possible bird flu symptoms early Friday, as Turkey's government sent medicines to the area in an effort to mobilize against a virus that appeared to be moving westward from eastern Asia.