# 2335
Earlier this month we received word that H5N1 bird flu had been reported in the west African nation of Togo, on a farm near the capital of Lome.
An OIE report was filed on September 18.
Today we are hearing of increased (and fairly dramatic) culling operations in the capital. A door-to-door culling and disinfection campaign is underway according to reporters on the scene.
Poultry cull in Togo capital after bird flu outbreak
LOME (AFP) - Authorities have culled some 5,000 birds over the past two days in the capital of the west African state of Togo following the discovery of bird flu there early this month, an official said Saturday.
The poultry was killed and incinerated in Agbata, a Lome suburb where this most recent outbreak occurred, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries told AFP.
An AFP journalist saw hundreds of villagers converging on an Agbata square to hand in their poultry to veterinarians for destruction.
Other officials moved door-to-door seizing any live poultry and killed them on the spot. Affected farmers were immediately compensated.
Officials say that, in all, more than 16,000 birds have to be destroyed and hundreds of houses disinfected.
Sub Saharan Africa remains a huge question mark when it comes to avian influenza. We get reports, on rare occasions, that poultry have been affected - but rarely hear of human cases.
The assumption is that human infections are occurring there, but that they simply aren't identified. Testing is almost never done, and thousands of people die each day from a variety of diseases.
Last year in Nigeria several human cases were strongly suspected, but only one fatality was ultimately confirmed. And that case was only detected because a family member insisted on an autopsy and additional testing, and was willing to pay for them.
Surveillance in many parts of Africa is non-existent.
Unfortunately, we can't say the same thing about the H5N1 bird flu virus.
