GENEVA, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that there was no need for panic for human cases of bird flu in Turkey.

    These cases were appearing in a region that had already reported cases of flu among birds many months ago, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told reporters here.

    The situation would be examined to discover if there had been the first cases of transmission between humans, in which case an epidemic could take place. However, this was not yet confirmed. The children concerned had been in contact with sick birds, and this was how they had been contaminated, she said.

    She said every country should however have a national plan to deal with the situation, but there was no need for panic, as the bird flu was currently only present in one province in Turkey.

    Two Turkish children has died of bird flu. There has been press reports of a third death, but this was not yet confirmed, WHO said.

    Turkish authorities had reported 18 suspect cases of hospitalization to WHO, and these came from different families and different areas of Van Province. Samples had been sent to London for tests, and results of these were expected next week, said Chaib.

    Following a request by the Turkish Ministry of Health, WHO has sent a team of five experts to Turkey, including an epidemiologist, a virologist, a veterinary epidemiologist, a infection control specialist and a public health official.

    The objectives of the mission are, in collaboration with the Turkish Ministry of Health, to review the current epidemiological situation, including the number of human influenza cases and the areas they come from. Enditem