As bird flu spreads in Nigeria, West Africa mulls regional road map

As the deadly H5N1 virus spread to a seventh state in Nigeria, the country’s West African neighbours convened in Dakar on Wednesday for emergency talks aimed at setting out a regional road map to contain the disease.

“Failing containment, this plague could destabilise African societies,” warned Bernard Vallat, Director General of the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) at the opening of the two-day ministerial-level gathering of 16 countries.

Convened by Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade, the meeting is to produce proposals on Tuesday from those attending - the 15 members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), plus Mauritania, as well as international aid, health and agricultural officials.

“This is serious business that touches us in our production of food to feed our people, and to export our agriculture,” said O.M. Afolabi of ECOWAS.

The focus of the battle to contain H5N1 in West Africa must be poultry farms, the OIE’s Vallat said. “Migratory birds will eliminate the virus, as they have done for centuries.”

To stop the spread of the virus to poultry, governments need to ensure totally transparent information, speedy detection and diagnostic facilities and a system of financial compensation, the OIE chief said.

But Wade said the lack of efficient reliable laboratories was a major concern and he estimated that one million euros (US $1.19 million) was needed to provide one for the region. Niger for example is being forced to wait for two weeks before receiving the results of tests on suspect cases from laboratories in Europe.

The aim of the two days of talks is to set out a regional framework for monitoring and coordinating action, Wade said.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Minister of Health Eyitayo Lambo said on Tuesday evening that bird flu has been confirmed in the northern state of Bauchi, meaning the deadly strain has reached six states plus the federal capital territory of Abuja.

In Rome, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said that a regional disaster was looming despite strong control efforts taken by the Nigerian authorities.

“There is ample evidence that the Nigerian bird flu situation is difficult and worrisome,” said Joseph Domenech, FAO’s Chief Veterinary Officer.

“The movement and trade of poultry have strongly contributed to the further spread of the virus. The government has taken the right measures such as culling in outbreak areas and biosecurity controls, but the authorities are facing immense difficulties to enforce controls,” Domenech said.

The FAO was advising the government to prepare for a targeted vaccination campaign, he said. This would require the mobilisation of several thousand private and public Nigerian veterinarians and the support of the international donor community.

FAO has allocated about US $1 million to support surveillance and control activities in Nigeria, Niger, Algeria, Mauritania, Egypt, Tunisia, Chad, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Mali and Cameroon.

Nigeria’s poultry population is estimated at 140 million, with backyard farmers accounting for 60 percent of poultry producers. A dose of chicken vaccine costs between 5 and 20 US cents.