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World News: Bird flu found in Nigeria
(AP) It appears the
worrisome H5N1
avian flu virus that has
been plaguing parts of
Asia has found its way to
Africa’s most densely
populated country, Nigeria.
A highly pathogenic
strain of H5N1, which initial
testing suggests is
closely matched to the
virus from Asia, has been
found in poultry flocks in
a large farm in northern
Nigeria — the first reported
case of the disease
in Africa, the Parisbased
World Organization
for Animal Health, or
OIE, said yesterday.
The OIE reported
40,000 of 46,000 poultry
in a commercial, batterycage
operation in Jaji, a
village in the northern
Kaduna state, had suc*****bed
to the virus. Nigerian
authorities disinfected
the farm and introduced
quarantine
measures and controls on
the movement of animals.
Experts have long
worried about the virus
seeding outbreaks in Africa,
with its weak veterinary
and public health
infrastructures and limited
animal and human
disease surveillance. Nigeria,
which has one of
the continent’s largest industrial
poultry sectors,
presents unique challenges
for those who
hope to contain the outbreak
before it spreads
and becomes endemic.
“It’s going to be very
difficult to mount an
eradication campaign,”
Dr. Alex Thiermann,
president of the OIE’s international
animal health
code, said from Paris.
While experts have assumed
it was only a matter
of time before H5N1
made its way to Africa,
they have dreaded this
development.
- The Associated Press
Posted on Saturday, February 18 @ 00:00:00 UTC by jcohen
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