Turkey is Safe for Travel
ANKARA, Turkey, January 23, 2006. A statement from Akin Koc, Managing Director, Anatolian Sky Holidays: The current 'bird flu' in Turkey seems to have caused some unnecessary panic with many reports being taken well out of proportion. There is currently no risk to people providing they are not in direct contact with contaminated poultry and so far we have not seen any evidence of it spreading from human to human.
To put this into context, we have so far seen the death of just four children in the East of Turkey, with the distance to the holiday resorts being the same as London to Vienna! All the children were in direct contact with contaminated chickens, with none of them being taken to hospital for over a week, their deaths may have been prevented.
There is also the fact that the 'bird flu' virus cannot survive temperatures over 20 degrees centigrade, with the temperature of our Turkish resorts from May onwards being upwards of 25 degrees centigrade. There is no fear of acquiring infection from consuming poultry or poultry products that have been prepared and cooked properly as the virus will not survive the cooking process. However, for peace of mind we have been in touch with all of our properties, and advised them to avoid any poultry meat and they have happily promised to do so (although this cannot be guaranteed 100%).
The Turkish government are taking the situation very seriously and have managed to collect and destroy over 1 million poultry with an intense campaign. They are making the Turkish public well aware of the dangers, particularly in the villages, where some children have been in direct contact with sick or dead poultry. The Turkish government are only allowing the farming of poultry in controlled farming businesses rather than peoples back gardens.
Finally I should say that it is no more dangerous to travel to Turkey than any other country at present. There is no epidemic and the 'bird flu' is now under control. Turkey is as safe to travel to as it has been in the past. For extra safety we are advising our clients to avoid direct contact with any poultry alive or dead as this could apply to any country, not just Turkey.
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