(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-16 09:01

A man in Germany tested negative after being admitted to hospital with suspected symptoms of bird flu, a city official said on Sunday.

The spokesman for the Cologne city government said the man, born in 1932, had recently returned to Germany from Turkey and was admitted to hospital after suffering from a high fever but had been cleared after a full range of tests.

He said he was apparently suffering from severe bronchitis.

Earlier, the local Cologne newspaper Koelner Stadt Anzeiger quoted a senior doctor at the city's St Franziskus hospital as saying the patient had been admitted with suspected symptoms of the disease and was undergoing tests.

The case came as Turkey has stepped up measures to contain the disease after several cases of human infection came to light over recent days.

At least three children have died in Turkey of avian influenza since the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus was found in many parts of the country. A girl who died on Sunday is suspected to be the country's fourth child victim.

On Saturday, a man in Belgium tested negative for the disease after being admitted to hospital following his return home from Turkey.