Fresh bird flu outbreak in Nigeria
January 13, 2007 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Thousands of birds are being slaughtered in Nigeria in a concerted effort to stop the bird flu from further spreading. Via Reuters AlertNet -
Junaid Maina, Nigeria’s national director of livestock, said new cases of the virus were confirmed this week in northwestern Sokoto and nearby in Katsina state, 800 kilometres northeast of Abuja. “Our teams are out there now culling birds,” Maina said.
Sokoto’s cases are the first ever in the state, while Katsina is among 14 of Nigeria’s 36 states struck last year. More than 18,000 birds have been culled in the two states since the beginning of the week, with more than 15,000 killed in Sokoto alone, an official involved in the operation told IRIN.
More than 200,000 birds were slaughtered in 2005, but the bird flu has almost become endemic to the nation after states continued to report suspected cases. The last reported case of bird flu infection was in September 2006.
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Tags: Nigeria, bird flu, flu, avian flu, culling, influenza
