The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has reached a new continent—Africa. Migrating birds or the poultry trade may be to blame, experts say.
Yesterday Nigerian authorities informed world health officials of an outbreak at a large commercial farm in the northern state of Kaduna.
Tens of thousands of caged birds died on the site. A laboratory in Padova, Italy, has confirmed the presence of the H5N1 strain in a dead bird from the facility.
No confirmed cases of human infection have been reported in Nigeria.
Nigerian officials have culled thousands of birds, enacted farm quarantines, and curbed poultry shipping in attempts to check the outbreak.
"The federal government is doing everything to contain the disease within the three centers that have been located," Tope Ajakaiye, a Nigerian Agriculture Ministry spokesman said in a prepared statement.
International experts are also in Nigeria (map) to assess the situation and assist local authorities.
"[UN] Food and Agriculture Organization inspectors are already in Kaduna, Kano and Jos," a World Health Organization (WHO) official told Reuters news service in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
"They want to trace people who have had contact with sick chickens and send out simple messages that there should be no human-bird contact," she added.
The WHO reports that the virulent strain has been responsible for 166 human infections and 88 deaths in seven countries since 2003.
Africa Ill-Equipped to Battle Outbreak
The disease's impact could be significant in a nation that's home to perhaps 140 million domesticated birds.
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