French woman has suspected bird flu

A Frenchwoman, recently returned from a visit to Turkey is suspected of having bird flu.

The French health ministry says despite a first test being negative other tests are being done.

The woman, 32, was hospitalised in Montpellier after a two-week stay in Tarsus, Turkey's East Mediterranean region; she was travelling alone.

French authorities say that particular area had hitherto been unaffected by the virus.

The woman apparently came into contact with dead birds during her visit and developed the symptoms of flu combined with breathing difficulties and was hospitalised on Saturday.

Turkey has reported at least four deaths from the H5N1 strain of bird flu this month, bringing the virus nearer to Europe and the Middle East.

Turkey's outbreaks have so far been centered in the east, near to Syria, Iraq, Iran and Armenia.

To date the H5N1 bird flu virus has killed over 80 people since late 2003.

The disease remains one contacted through close contact with sick birds, but there are fears it could mutate into a form that can pass easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic.

The French government has already tightened its own security measures against a possible outbreak of the virus, and the number of departments where poultry must be kept inside has been raised from 26 to 58 and entails almost two thirds of the country.