Home

  • Home
    • » e-Newsletters

Nigerians warned of danger of bird flu infection

Infection Control Monitor, February 10, 2006

International experts urged Nigerians to avoid contact with sick fowl to prevent infection from the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus after it was found in Africa for the first time, Reuters reports.

"(U.N.) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) inspectors are already in Kaduna, Kano and Jos," said an official of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Nigerian capital Abuja. "They want to trace people who have had contact with sick chickens and send out simple messages that there should be no human-bird contact."

The outbreak could have devastating consequences in Nigeria, where millions keep chickens in their backyards. The WHO said investigations were urgently needed to determine whether the outbreak had spread from farms to household flocks in Africa's most populous nation.

Most Popular