SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, January 30, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Iraq confirmed on Monday, January 30, its first human fatality of bird flu, urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to check the possible spread of the virus in its northern Kurdish region.

"The teenager Shanjin Abdel Qader, from the region of Raniya, who died on January 17, succumbed to H5N1 virus," Health Minister Abdel Mutalib Mohammed Ali told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He said she had contracted the disease after touching a dead bird in her house three days before.

"We took her samples to the international laboratory and initial test results were negative, but later more thorough testing showed indications of bird flu or even H5N1," asserted the minister.

The dead girl's uncle has also died after suffering a pulmonary infection and samples from him are still being tested in Amman.

The fatal H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed nearly 83 people mostly in East Asia since 2003 and until January 25, 2006, has spread to the Middle East and Europe.

According to WHO statistics, 152 infection cases and 83 fatalities have occurred in Turkey, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The deadly virus is not known to pass easily between humans at the moment.

Scientists fear that the more the virus spreads, the greater the chance H5N1 will mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans.

This could spark a global pandemic that could claim millions of lives.

International donors have pledged $1.9 billion to support a global fund to combat bird flu.

Iraqis look at birds inside a cage at a bird market in Baghdad. (Reuters)

The Iraqi minister urged the international community to offer urgent help to Iraq to prevent any spread of the deadly disease.

He headed to Kurdistan on Monday amid growing fears about the spread of the lethal form of avian flu spreading from across the border in infected Turkey.

"We are calling on Iraqis not to panic or listen to rumors, but at the same to inform us if they suspect anything," he said on Iraqi television.

"Since the first cases were reported up in Turkey we have been taking all the necessary measures to deal with any possible influenza."

But the minister warned Iraqis "not to approach domestic birds and poultry as this is the main way of spreading the disease".

Mohammed Khushnow, a senior health official in the northern Kurdish region of Sulaimaniyah, said there were 14 cases of suspected bird flu in the region, "of which 12, after initial tests, have been cleared of the disease, but two are highly suspect."

Imad Ahmed, deputy prime minister of Sulaimaniyah, said 12 people had been quarantined after they fell ill with pneumonia, but could possibly be infected with H5N1.

The government of Sulaimaniyah, run by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, has decided to slaughter all poultry and birds in an area near the Turkish and Iranian borders.

The area, which consists of some 50 settlements, is not a major poultry producing region, and residents will be offered compensation.

"Poultry should only be slaughtered under the supervision of the agriculture department since individual measures can only contribute to the spread of the disease," said a government statement, warning of tough measures in the case of non-compliance.

"The virus of the bird flu exists in Kurdistan and we are warning the population, particularly in the four regions bordering Turkey and we are asking them to cooperate with teams from the ministry of agriculture, health and interior in slaughtering poultry," it added.

Health officials in Iraq's three Kurdish provinces say a number of measures are being taken to stop the spread of the virus.

These include decontaminating trucks crossing the border, banning the import of Turkish poultry and prohibiting the sale of live chickens inside Kurdistan.

Iraq's Kurdish provinces, which lie on the border with Turkey, are a major poultry producing region supplying chicken and eggs for much of the entire country.