UN Urges Nigeria To Increase Bird Flu Controls
# 494
Of all of the regions of the world, the area that worries me the most regarding avian influenza is sub-Subharan Africa. Not only is this disease endemic in poultry, and likely (but unproven) to be found in migratory birds, but there is almost no surveillance.
Six Thousand people reportedly die each day in Africa from all manner of diseases. AIDS, lassa fever, malaria, water borne illnesses, and TB; just to name a few. Many of these people never see a doctor, are never tested or diagnosed, and are quickly buried.
Nigeria is extremely worrisome, but is by no means the only vulnerable country in that region. Should the virus acquire the ability to transmit from human to human in this part of the world, containment would be a nightmare, and we would likely learn of it very late.
Bird Flu: Nigeria to Increase Controls
Friday, 23 February 2007, 12:08 pm
Press Release: United NationsBird Flu: UN Agency Urges Nigeria to Increase Control Measures to Prevent Spread
New York, Feb 22 2007 1:00PM
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has urged Nigeria to increase control measures on poultry farms, including targeted vaccination, and in markets to prevent the spread of bird flu and reduce the risk of further human cases in Africa’s most populous country and its spread to neighbouring countries.
In a statement issued after a mission to Nigeria, FAO said the virus is still circulating in poultry flocks with outbreaks reported in at least 10 states over the past few months. The virus probably spread along major trade routes, placing neighbouring countries at risk from birds moved informally across borders and increased surveillance could ensure that countries detect an incursion of disease without delay, it added.
“The first confirmed case of H5N1 infection in humans in Nigeria shows that there is a continuing danger of human exposure to the virus from high-risk practices, such as handling sick or dead chickens, and especially from unsafe slaughtering of poultry at home or in markets,” FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech said.
Nigeria is so far the only sub-Saharan country to have reported a human bird flu fatality, its first and only case so far. The only other sub-Saharan country affected is Djibouti on the opposite, eastern side of the continent, with one non-fatal case, but Egypt to the north has so far suffered 22 cases, 13 of them fatal.
