Mar 19, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – Veterinary officials in Turkey have confirmed an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in the western part of the country near the border with Greece, according to a report yesterday from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

The virus struck 22 backyard chickens at a village near Ipsala in Edirne province, according to the OIE report. The remaining 16 birds were destroyed. Turkish officials listed fomites, which could involve contamination spread by humans, vehicles, or animal feed, as the source of the outbreak.

Turkey's last H5N1 outbreaks occurred over several weeks in January and February at six sites, all of which involved backyard poultry. The OIE report on the outbreaks said the source of the virus was contact with wild species.

All of the previous outbreaks occurred near villages along the Black Sea, an area that officials from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have said is vulnerable to H5N1 outbreaks, because surrounding countries are a winter home to migratory birds from Siberia and often have poor separation between wild and domestic birds. However, the OIE report map detailing the most recent outbreak location shows that the Ipsala area is close to the Mediterranean Sea.