# 2183
Today we are hearing a little more about the outbreak of H5N1 reported in Nigerian poultry late last week.
This first report is from Reuters, and it identifies the two cities where the virus was detected.
Fresh bird flu outbreak in Nigerian poultry
Mon 28 Jul 2008, 12:06 GMT
ABUJA (Reuters) - An outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in two Nigerian poultry markets, the first discovery in almost 10 months in Africa's most populous nation, the agriculture ministry said on Monday.
Junaidu Maina, agriculture director for the livestock department, said the infected chickens and ducks were located last week in the northern cities of Kano and Katsina.
"Immediate actions have already been taken to control the outbreak. The affected farms are being depopulated and disinfected," he said.
Three days ago CIDRAP had some early details, gleaned from an OIE incident report. Lisa Schnirring also updates us on Hong Kong and South Korea in this report, and as always, it is worth reading in its entirety.
Nigeria finds H5N1 in bird markets
Lisa Schnirring
Staff Writer
Jul 25, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – Animal health officials in Nigeria today reported finding the H5N1 avian influenza virus at two live bird markets, as officials in Hong Kong announced they would go ahead with a buyout of poultry farmers and merchants to reduce the risk of H5N1 outbreaks in the city.
The H5N1 findings in Nigeria came during routine surveillance, according to an epidemiology report submitted by Nigeria today to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
On Jun 27, veterinary officials detected the virus in a chicken at a live bird market in Kebbi state, in northwestern Nigeria. On Jul 19, animal health workers found the virus in a duck at a live bird market in Gombe state in the east-central part of the country. The reports did not say if bird deaths were reported in the area or if the birds that were sampled appeared sick.
(Continue . . .)
The actual extent of the H5N1 virus in Sub-Saharan Africa is largely unknown. We've seen isolated reports of outbreaks in poultry, and a handful of human cases, but surveillance is almost non-existent in many areas.
Frankly we've no idea how wide, or deep, the problem is in Africa.
