AN Indian sailor who died in the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda may have been infected with bird flu, the Lithuanian health ministry said today.

"A member of the crew of the ship MV Ocean Wind, Indian citizen Shaikh Rafikque, died in Klaipeda today. The suspected cause of death is bird flu," a statement from the ministry said.

If avian flu is confirmed as the cause of death, it would be the first human case of the disease in the European Union...

The Liberian-flagged Ocean Wing came to Lithuania from Germany on January 17 to undergo repairs, the health ministry said...

...Kazimieras Lukauskas, head of Lithuania's state veterinary and food service, said raw poultry was among foods loaded onto the ship in Germany, but played down the possibility that it was the cause of the sailor's death...

They aren't going to do an autopsy for religous reasons, so we won't know the exact cause.