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Georgia plans emergency measures against bird flu threat

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TBILISI, January 5 (RIA Novosti) - Georgian Health Minister Vladimir Chipashvili headed Thursday to the town of Sarpi on the border with Turkey to assess the threat of bird flu pandemic in the region, a Georgian news agency reported.

David Meskhishvili, head of the bird flu emergency headquarters, said the situation in Sarpi was rather alarming after the news about possible spread of the bird flu virus in the region.

"Sarpi is the most dangerous place in this respect because it borders with Turkey where as we know the virus has already spread," the official said.

The minister and emergency headquarters officials are planning to assess the situation in the region and monitor preventive measures against the spread of deadly virus.

The NTV channel reported earlier that a 15-year-old girl died Thursday morning of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, becoming the second victim of the virus in Turkey. Her 14-year-old brother died of bird flu on January 1.

Nine other people are hospitalized in the city of Van in eastern Turkey with bird-flu symptoms.

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