By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An east Jerusalem man who was admitted to a local hospital with flu symptoms on Monday is being tested for possible avian flu, the hospital said.
The man owns chickens, a few of which died in the past few days, so doctors at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital decided to test the man's blood for possible avian flu, said Ron Krumer, a hospital spokesman. Results from the blood samples, which are being tested both at the hospital and at the Israeli Health Ministry, were not yet available.
The man was being kept in isolation, the hospital said.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 79 people worldwide. The disease has spread in Turkey in the past few days.