Avian Flu Found in Nigeria,

[Tigermike 3,050]

Avian Flu Found in Nigeria, Shows Spread to Africa (Update1)

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Avian influenza was found in poultry in the north of Nigeria, the World Organization for Animal Health said, the first evidence the virus has spread to Africa.

About 40,000 birds have died since the H5N1 virus outbreak began Jan. 10, the United Nations agency, also known as OIE, said today in an e-mailed statement. The agency will send a team to the village of Jaji in the Kaduna state to help the government, which is trying to quarantine the area.

``No country is risk-free, and we are facing a serious international crisis,'' said Samuel Jutzi, director of the Food and Agriculture Organization's animal health division, in an e- mailed statement today. ``It is important that local and national authorities within other countries in the region remain vigilant for possible outbreaks.''

At least 19 other countries have reported outbreaks of the virus in birds, which can sicken people who have contact with them. Human infection raises the risk that the virus may change into a form easily spread among people and trigger a pandemic.

Africa, already grappling with an AIDS epidemic and famine, may prove the weakest link in a global effort to stem bird flu, scientists and government officials said at a conference in Beijing last month.

Millions of birds flock to the Great Rift Valley, running 8,700 kilometers (5,400 miles) from Syria to Mozambique, between July and October on their way from northern Asia to South Africa.

Quarantine

The Nigerian government is trying to quarantine the area where the infected birds were found, disinfect the farm and control the movement of animals, the OIE said. The country is home to about 140 million poultry, the FAO said.

The OIE laboratory in Padova, Italy, confirmed the H5N1 infection in the Nigerian birds and is conducting further tests, the agency said. The FAO, also a UN agency, will send two experts to advise local authorities on control measures. Both agencies said they didn't know what sparked the outbreak in the birds, which were being raised for egg laying.

In Nigeria, where the average life expectancy is about 46, the government health budget allocates the equivalent of about 21 U.S. cents per person each year. The U.S. government's health and human services agency, by contrast, plans to spend roughly $2,300 per person next year.

Africa's most populous nation has committed $2.1 million for measures such as public awareness campaigns, training for veterinarians and doctors, and expanding laboratory services.

Hong Kong Controls

``If the situation in Nigeria gets out of control, it will have a devastating impact on the poultry population in the region, it will seriously damage the livelihoods of millions of people, and it will increase the exposure of humans to the virus,'' the FAO's Jutzi said.

Hong Kong today tightened regulations on residents keeping poultry in a bid to prevent the spread of bird flu. Households will be banned from raising chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons and quails in backyards, Hong Kong's Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said in a statement on its Web site. Residents will face fines of as much as HK$100,000 ($12,900) for violating the regulations.

The H5N1 virus has killed at least 88 of the 165 people known to have been infected, according to World Health Organization estimates. Reports of confirmed bird-flu fatalities reached a 12-month high in January after the number of reported new cases rose each month since July.

Pet Birds

Iraq is treating seven people for suspected bird flu in the country, where a possible third fatality indicates the lethal virus may have spread to the south, the WHO said. Most patients ``have reported a history of direct contact with diseased poultry,'' the organization said.

A 13-year-old boy from Iraq's southern Omara area, who developed symptoms of avian flu on Feb. 1, was hospitalized with severe pneumonia on Feb. 5 and died the same day, the WHO said yesterday in a statement on its Web site. Previous cases in Iraq were found in the northern region of Sulaimaniyah.

``Although no poultry deaths have been reported in the area, pet birds kept by the family are said to have died near the time of symptom onset,'' the WHO said. Samples from the boy have been taken and Iraqi health authorities will visit the Omara area today to investigate.

A WHO-led team is in the Erbil and Sulaimaniyah areas, and a 24-hour emergency operations center has been set up in the WHO regional office in Cairo to help coordination and provide back- up support, WHO said.

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