Animal health body reports bird flu in Ivory Coast

PARIS (Reuters) – The first case of the deadly H5N1 strain
of bird flu has been reported in Ivory Coast, where 17 infected
birds were found in the Abidjan area, the World Organization
for Animal Health (OIE) said on Wednesday.

Bird flu outbreaks have been reported in five other African
countries, including Egypt where the World Health Organization
says there have been 12 human cases, four of them fatal.

Health experts fear Africa’s poor human and animal health
services, large backyard poultry population and lack of
resources could make it an easy target for a broader outbreak
of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, already blamed for the
deaths of more than 100 people worldwide.

The Paris-based OIE said the two separate outbreaks of bird
flu in Ivory Coast, a former French colony in West Africa,
concerned seven free-range chickens, nine ducks and one sparrow
hawk.

“Two outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have
been reported in Abidjan district (Marcory Anoumabo and
Treichville communes) in Lagunes region,” it said in a
statement on its Web site.

Local officials had begun destroying some birds,
disinfecting the area and restricting movement there, it added.

It said it received confirmation of the cases on Tuesday
from the Ministry of Animal Production and Fish Resources in
Abidjan.

“Nine ducks died in an Abidjan neighborhood last week. Our
teams carried out some tests and suspected avian flu,” Animal
Production Minister Alphonse Douati told Reuters, adding that
the government would address the nation on the issue later.

Bird flu has spread rapidly since late 2003 from Asia to
Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Since the beginning of the
year alone, more than 30 new countries have reported outbreaks.

Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Egypt and Burkina Faso have
already confirmed the virus in Africa, where experts fear weak
health systems could be delaying the detection of human cases.

(Additional reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly in Abidjan)