# 371
Following the report last week of two deaths in Lagos, one of the largest cities in the world, where bird flu was suspected, additional patients are being tested. I blogged extensively on this story here.
This, today, from Reuters:
Nigeria testing 14 human samples for bird flu
29 Jan 2007 09:45:24 GMT
ABUJA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Nigeria is testing samples from 14 people, including three who died, for possible bird flu, a senior official at the Health Ministry said on Monday.
Samples from a mother and daughter who died in Lagos and a woman who died in remote eastern Taraba state after suffering flu-like symptoms are being tested to determine whether the H5N1 strain of bird flu was present.
Authorities gave conflicting information about tests on the mother and daughter, however.
Lola Sadiq, in charge of monitoring Nigeria's bird flu crisis at the World Health Organisation (WHO) office in Abuja, said they had tested negative for bird flu.
She did not have any information about the Taraba case.
Abdulsalam Nasidi, in charge of efforts to prevent bird flu from spreading to humans in Nigeria, said the three had tested positive for flu which is very common at this time of year due to the seasonal harmattan wind.
"The tests will show if it was common flu or bird flu," Nasidi said, adding that they were being conducted at a laboratory in the capital Abuja. The other 11 samples are from people who came into contact with those who died.
There is obvious confusion over the test results. Conflicting statements.
Initial testing for the elusive H5N1 virus often fails to reveal infection. That is why most doctors are running at least 3 tests before ruling out a bird flu infection. In some cases, patients have tested negative all three times, and more, and it was only during autopsy that the H5N1 virus was discovered.
It is certainly possible that these are nothing more than normal influenza victims. The average life expectancy in Nigeria is 47 years. People do die from influenza. It is certainly not unreasonable to expect that 3 people could die from seasonal flu there.
We've seen, however, a strong bias in Nigeria towards denying they have a bird flu problem in the past. In July of last year, the Nigerian President was proclaiming loudly they `had no bird flu in the Taraba state' after reports leaked out that they did.
Nigerian president denies bird flu is in Taraba state
Nigeria's president denied that there had been an outbreak of bird flu in Taraba state, saying the deaths of birds could be from any of half a dozen chicken diseases (Source: Daily Champion).
Local labs are generally poorly equipped to detect the virus. Given the number of outbreaks in poultry in that country over the past year, and the lack of routine medical surveillance, a bit of extra scrutiny in these cases is probably warranted.
UPDATE: 07:18 EDT
This from Reuters.
ABUJA/GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday that initial tests on samples from 14 Nigerians, including three people who died, showed they were not victims of bird flu.
In Geneva, a WHO official said all 14 samples had tested negative for the H5 strain of flu but positive for another type. Samples from the 14 have been sent to London for a second check, the U.N. agency said.
A Nigerian official gave a different account, saying he was awaiting the outcome of tests at a laboratory in the capital Abuja.
Samples have been taken from three people who died of unknown causes and 11 people who came into contact with them.
