Bird Flu Hits Africa

Posted on February 8, 2006

The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has hit the continent of Africa. The BBC reports that the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) issued a statement that said the virus had been found in poultry in Northern Nigeria.

For two years Nigeria has banned poultry imports from countries which have experienced cases of bird flu.
There are fears that the disease could easily spread in Africa because of a lack of safeguards.
"What is most important now is not how it got into Nigeria, but how it can be prevented from leaving Nigeria," Cape Town ornithologist Phil Hockey told Reuters.
Mr Haruna said affected farmers from Kano were still waiting to be quarantined.

Doctors fear the introduction of the virus to parts of the third world where it has the potential to spread easily. Concerns that the disease could mutate and spread easily from human-to-human continue to increase. 80 people have been killed by the disease so far according to the BBC story.

H5N1