Nigerian bird flu spreads
2006-03-07 14:32
Abuja - Nigeria's epidemic of a deadly form of bird has spread south and infected poultry in three more states, Information Minister Frank Nweke said in a statement received on Tuesday.
A highly pathogenic form of avian influenza has been identified in the town of Idemili in Anambra State, 500km south of Abuja, in Oturpo in the central state of Benue and in Port Harcourt in Rivers State.
"The culling of infected birds and decontamination of the affected areas in the three states has commenced," Nweke said.
Previously the epidemic had been limited to seven northern and central states - Katsina, Kano, Yobe, Kaduna, Bauchi, Plateau and Nasarawa - plus the federal capital territory around Abuja.
Its arrival in Port Harcourt, a major commercial centre in the densely populated Niger Delta, and Anambra, which sits on one of west Africa's main trade routes, will raise concerns that the virus is getting out of control.
Nweke said Nigeria's National Veterinary Reserach Institute had confirmed the new outbreaks were highly pathogenic and samples had been sent to a UN laboratory in Padua, Italy to confirm if they are of the H5N1 strain.
So far Nigeria has recorded no human cases of bird flu, but the H5N1 strain, which has been detected in some of the infected northern flocks can be deadly to humans and has killed at least 94 people in other parts of the world.
Nigeria was the first African country to detect the virus in its poultry and has put in place a large operation to contain it, but it has already been found in neighbouring Niger and there are fears it will spread further.