Bird Flu Center

Around 200 health workers are expected to cover the whole of Nigeria over the next six months, in an effort of searching for and detecting cases of avian influenza as early as possible. This is part of a project launched by the United Nations and the European Union on Thursday. Nigeria is the first African country to have detected cases of H5N1 infections in birds, without reporting any human cases of the disease. The northern state of Kaduna was the first place where such infections were detected and the illness soon spread to almost half of the country’s states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory. Nigerian authorities have taken standard measures to curb the disease, such as culling poultry, instituting quarantines and banning poultry transports. Poultry is widely raised in the African country, as millions of people keep chicken in they backyards and poultry is usually transported, sold and handled live, as electricity to run refrigerators is not a common thing. Local authorities claim the disease is under control, as bird flu cases are now quite rare. However, international health experts claim the true extent of the problem might not be fully exposed.