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Over the past 10 days there have been rumors, and newspaper articles, about suspected human cases in Nigeria. The latest of these was reported by the VOA, and is detailed here.
According to this report by Xinhua, Nigerian authorities are denying these stories, claiming they are `speculations' that have been disproven by laboratory testing.
No new case of bird flu in Nigeria: official
Nigeria's Multi-sectorial Steering Committee on the management of bird flu said here on Friday that there is no new case of the scourge in the country.
The committee said in a statement signed by Nigeria's Minister of Information and Communication Frank Nweke that the reported new cases in Lagos and other parts of the country were speculations that had been proved wrong after some laboratory tests.
Nweke said that the federal government had worked tirelessly to eradicate bird flu since the first human case of the disease was confirmed early in the year.
He said that all suspected cases of bird flu-like illness or respiratory diseases had been investigated for bird flu and the results were negative.
He urged Nigerians not to panic but to observe appropriate precautions as contained in the various media campaigns.
Nweke advised Nigerians to immediately report any suspected case of the disease to the nearest veterinary or healthcare facility.
Source: Xinhua
