WHO Raises Count of Human Bird Flu Cases

The World Health Organization says it has confirmed 160 human cases of bird flu worldwide.

A statement from the United Nations health agency Tuesday said 85 of those infected have died, including four people in Turkey.

The WHO also said it is sending a team of specialists to northern Iraq to investigate possible bird flu cases there.

Iraqi health minister said Monday that a girl who died earlier this month in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniya, near the border with Turkey and Iran, had the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Iraqi officials are on high alert to try to prevent the virus from becoming established. Authorities are destroying hundreds of thousands of birds and have quarantined a number of people who have symptoms of the disease.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.