Kuwait confirms 12 new bird flu cases

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait confirmed on Tuesday 12 cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in turkeys and chicken on Tuesday, but said the birds did not belong to poultry farms.

The ministry confirmed on Monday 20 cases in falcons of the same strain at a zoo and a farm in the south of the country, the first in two years.

In the latest development, a health ministry official confirmed a newspaper report that three turkeys and nine chicken were infected and said the ministry was testing people who came in contact with the birds.

The cases were found among "domestic backyard caged birds, not on poultry producing farms," Ahmed al-Shatti told Reuters.

"About 100 handlers and families of owners of infected birds have been tested and the results were negative. We are continuing the tests," he said

The Gulf Arab state has banned the import of live birds after the outbreaks. It reported a case of the deadly bird flu in a flamingo in 2005.