CAUSE OF DISEASE IN SPLIT WILL BE KNOWN ON THURSDAY AT EARLIEST

ZAGREB, Jan 25 (Hina) - The final test results regarding the cause of a disease which a number of residents of Split and Krizevci contracted over the past week will be known on Thursday at the earliest, an assistant to Croatia's Agriculture and Forestry Minister and head of the Croatian Directorate for Veterinary Science, Mate Brstilo, said on Friday. The cause of the disease can be established with certainty only by isolating the infectious agent on a tissue sample, a process which can last four to five days, Brstilo told Hina. The pet shop in Split, where the parrot which is believed to have caused the outbreak of the disease was bought, has been closed and the animals seized. Other pet shops in Split were closed today as well. A veterinary inspection has visited all pet shops in Zagreb and established that the level of protection is satisfactory. An inspection in the Krizevci facility, where the diseased parrot was bred, is still underway, Brstilo said. The Health Ministry yesterday issued a statement saying the tenants of an apartment building in Split, who over the past week contracted the mysterious disease, from which one tenant died, were probably suffering from psittacosis or parrot fever. Precautionary measures are still in force because other possible causes of the disease have not been ruled out entirely, Brstilo said. (hina) sb rml