MOSCOW, January 9 (RIA Novosti) - The current outbreak of bird flu in Turkey, which has killed three children in the remote eastern Van region, has not had a negative effect on the number of Russians willing to visit the country, a tourism official said Monday.
Irina Tyurina said that the affected regions were far from Turkish resorts, and that after the New Year holidays, tourist flows normally declined. However, she said bird flu could eventually influence the flow of holidaymakers in Turkey just like the SARS pandemic did in 2004.
Russian chief epidemiologist Gennady Onishchenko said Sunday that he didn't recommend Russian tourists to visit northeastern Turkey.
Bird flu cases have been registered in 12 regions. Nine human cases have been confirmed.
