Bird Flu Center

Avian influenza has recorded its first human death in the sub-Saharan region on Wednesday. Test were carried out on a dead woman and proved that she had indeed been infected with the highly pathogenic bird flu virus. The 22 year old woman had previously handled a diseased chicken in her residence in Lagos, Nigeria’s capital. Tests were also carried out on three other victims, but so far they have proven inconclusive. 11 people had been killed by bird flu in Africa so far, all of them in Egypt. Djibouti also faced a human infection, but the patient eventually recovered.

A statistic by the World Health Organization released on Thursday states that Nigeria has culled around 700,000 birds in its effort to stop the outbreaks of avian influenza, which have been reported in the country for the first time in February this year. The announcement was made during a one-day workshop organized in Enugu, south Nigeria. WHO representative Chijioke Osakwe reported that the culling cost 4.44 million dollars to undertake, but that the method is an effective way to prevent the spread of the disease. Nigeria’s poultry industry accounts for 140 million birds, contributing heavily on the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Osakwe appealed to Nigerian officials that the effort is continued, in order to ensure a rapid detection of future bird flu outbreaks.

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.

Nigerian state of Taraba records a new case of bird flu, as the virus breaks out in three local government areas, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria. One state official declared that infections have been found in Wukari, Ibi and Gassol provinces. The first case to appear in the state was reported in June and soon after representatives from the Federal Diagnosis Laboratory, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the state Ministry of Agriculture met to decide on a plan of action.

A memorandum was then written to guide the Taraba state government on this issue and officials recognize the problem is of the utmost importance, but the state government seems to deviate its attention to other matters, which is worrying to say the least. A solution to combat the disease is urgently needed and the government of Nigeria is called upon to aid on the efforts. So far experts have been sent to the affected areas and are trying to control the situation. Nigeria is the most populous African country but so far no humans have been infected with the highly dangerous virus.