First confirmed cases of killer bird flu in Kaduna

Tens of thousands of chickens have died of the killer bird flu virus in northern Nigeria, the first confirmed cases of H5N1 in the country, the International Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Wednesday. Tests revealed that 40,000 birds had died of the H5N1 virus at a poultry farm in a village in the northern state of Kaduna, Maria Zampaglione of the Paris-based OIE told IRIN by telephone. "An outbreak has been detected,2 Zampaglione said. "A local poultry farm keeping 46,000 birds was affected, of which 42,000 were infected and 40,000 of those, died." Though Nigerian authorities have only confirmed bird flu in Kaduna State, neighbouring Kano State has also reported high numbers of poultry deaths. The infected Kaduna birds were kept in battery cages in Jaji village, and so far no human cases of bird flu have been reported in Nigeria. Bird flu was first diagnosed in Asia in 2003, prompting a massive slaughter of commercial poultry before fatal cases began appearing in humans. So far most of the human deaths have been in Asia, but recently the H5N1 virus has killed in Iraq and Turkey. West Africa lies on the migratory path of birds that may already be affected with avian influenza. And the region is littered with ecologically important reserves where birds flock to seek warmth during the northern hemisphere winter. Late last month, as migratory birds fly to Africa, experts from 18 West African countries gathered in the Malian capital Bamako to draw up an action plan to deal with the threat of bird flu, putting US $120 million into the pot for surveillance of commercial and wild birds. Experts are fearful of an outbreak in Africa, because of the lack of veterinary services and a poor state capacity to deal with such outbreaks. Poultry meanwhile is an important and cheap source of protein for many people in Africa, where chickens typically roam freely around compounds in towns and villages. The OIE, which confirmed the Nigeria outbreak, together with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), promised an immediate and coordinated response in a statement issued on Wednesday. Nigerian authorities have already imposed a quarantine, restricted animal movement inside the country, and begun to disinfect the affected farm, said the OIE statement. Nigeria is West Africa's most populous nation, with an estimated population of 110 million people. It is also a regional centre for trade and commerce with some of the region’s largest ports and markets. "If the situation in Nigeria gets out of control, it will have a devastating impact on the poultry population in the region," warned Samuel Jutzi, Director of FAO's Animal Production and Health Division, in a Wednesday press release, "it will seriously damage the livelihoods of millions of people and it will increase the exposure of humans to the virus."