Nigerians warned of danger of bird flu infection

By Estelle Shirbon

JAJI, Nigeria (Reuters) – International experts urged Nigerians on Thursday to avoid contact with sick fowl to prevent infection with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus after it was found in Africa for the first time.

Thousands of chickens have died in northern Nigeria over the past few weeks and international animal health bodies have identified a highly pathogenic H5N1 strain in the area.

A team of experts went to work in three affected states.

"(U.N.) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) inspectors are already in Kaduna, Kano and Jos," said an official of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

"They want to trace people who have had contact with sick chickens and send out simple messages that there should be no human-bird contact," she added.

The outbreak could have devastating consequences in Nigeria, where millions keep chickens in their backyards.

Scientists fear that H5N1 could mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person, sparking a human influenza pandemic in which millions could die.

So far, victims have contracted the disease through close contact with infected birds.

Nigerian authorities say they have received no reports of human infection with H5N1, which has killed at least 88 people in seven countries since it re-emerged in late 2003.

But it would be difficult for them to know that for sure because mortality rates in Nigeria are among the highest in the world and the dead are often buried without any medical checks.

The WHO said investigations were urgently needed to determine whether the outbreak had spread from farms to household flocks in Africa’s most populous nation.

"If the virus has spread to household flocks in Nigeria, public information campaigns will be needed to warn populations to avoid high-risk behaviours, including the slaughtering, defeathering, butchering, and preparation for consumption of diseased poultry," it said.

Because of a lack of refrigeration, most Africans buy chickens live and kill them at home.

INFECTED FARM

At the battery farm where the H5N1 sample was taken, outside Jaji village in Kaduna state, 15 big concrete hangars used as chicken pens were empty on Thursday and workers said all the birds had died about a month ago.

"They burned them and buried them. They didn’t tell us what had happened. I heard it on the news," said one farm worker, asking not to be named.

About 10 state emergency officials visited the farm briefly on Thursday looking for human victims.

"We want to find out if it’s affecting people. We have been informed that chickens are dying. We need to see some officers and interview them. Unfortunately we couldn’t meet anybody and all the chickens have died already," said Aliyu Sale, a senior official with the group.

About 20 riot police sat in the shade of trees guarding the farm, but did not prevent journalists and villagers from walking among the buildings. Foul-smelling pits were visible at the back, and about 40 ostriches wandered around in a field.

"We haven’t been told anything about safety and I’m concerned that we may be at risk from standing in this place," said one of the policemen.

CULLING CONCERNS

The Nigerian government said it would cull all chickens suspected to be infected with bird flu, compensate farmers and quarantine all suspect farms.

One Agriculture Ministry official in Kano state said authorities had ordered all farms witnessing mass bird deaths to be quarantined, but they would not exterminate the flocks until H5N1 was confirmed by new tests.

"Once we confirm the test is positive, we will go there and destroy the chickens. Because of the compensation, we are worried people might take advantage," he said.

The World Animal Health Organization said on Thursday it believed culling alone would not contain the virus and that a poultry vaccination programme would probably be needed.

Bird flu has been moving westwards from east Asia and people have died during recent outbreaks in Turkey and Iraq. It was not immediately clear how it reached West Africa, but experts said the priority was to contain it before it could spread further.

Kenya announced a ban on Nigerian poultry imports on Thursday as a precaution.