A group of European Union experts visited Greece's main veterinary laboratory Friday to inspect procedures observed before a turkey was diagnosed bird flu this week, Associated Press reported. A sample from a small flock of birds on the tiny Aegean Sea island of Oinouses has been sent to Britain to test for the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain. But preliminary results announced Thursday said there was no evidence of any flu strain. The conflicting results prompted a judicial investigation into reports that turkeys from the Oinouses flock had not been properly tagged and that samples may have been accidentally switched. The main opposition Socialist party blamed Agriculture Minister Evangelos Basiakos and called for his resignation Friday. Party spokesman Nikos Athanasakis claimed the government had told Basiakos not to make any public statements to avoid further embarrassment. "I have heard of ministers resigning, and ministers being fired but for a minister to be put in quarantine _ that's a first," Athanasakis said. Paul Verhuveren, heading the three-member EU team of experts, said he could not comment on his findings because the inspection was ongoing. On Thursday, the experts traveled to Oinouses and visited the site where the infected bird was found.
