09 February 2006
U.N. Health Agency Confirms Avian Influenza in Birds in Nigeria
Ministry of Health confirms 11th human infection with human bird flu in China
By Cheryl Pellerin
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed February 8 that domestic birds on a large commercial farm in northern Nigeria are infected with the highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The first case identified in Africa marks the further geographic spread of the viral strain that has affected birds in 14 nations and prompted serious concern about the possibility of a global bird flu pandemic among people.
“Although all evidence to date indicates that the virus does not spread easily from birds to humans,” the WHO report said, “careful monitoring of the situation is warranted.”
In other nations, more human cases of bird flu have been confirmed.
HUMAN CASES OF BIRD FLU IN CHINA, IRAQ
In China, the Ministry of Health reported February 9 the country’s 11th confirmed case of human infection with the dangerous H5N1 virus.
According to WHO reports, the Chinese bird flu victim is a 26-year-old female farmer from the southeastern province of Fujian. She developed symptoms January 10 and was hospitalized with pneumonia. She is under treatment and in stable condition.
Of China’s laboratory-confirmed cases, seven have been fatal. The cases occurred in seven provinces and regions -- Anhui, Fujian, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hunan, Liaoning and Sichuan.
In Iraq, a WHO-led team of international experts, including veterinarians from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, is in northern Iraq, where a fatal human case of bird flu was confirmed January 30. (See related article.)
Two other patients in the area who were under investigation for possible H5N1 infection have died. Specimens from one patient, the 39-year-old uncle of the confirmed fatality, have tested positive for H5N1 infection in a local laboratory but WHO has not yet confirmed his infection.
Also in Iraq, the Ministry of Health has reported to WHO a possible human case of H5N1 infection in southern Iraq. A 13-year-old boy from the Omara area developed symptoms February 1, was hospitalized with severe pneumonia February 5, and died the same day.
No poultry deaths were reported in the area, but birds kept as family pets are said to have died near the time the boy got sick. The Minister of Health and a team from Iraq’s Centre for Disease Control are investigating.
The latest WHO reports bring the total number of human bird flu cases to 166 and the number of deaths to 88 since 2003 in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iraq, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.
NIGERIAN OUTBREAK
So far, the only confirmed H5N1 outbreak is at a farm in the Kaduna state in northern Nigeria, where thousands of chickens are kept in battery cages (small wire cages stacked in tiers and lined up in rows inside warehouses).
Investigations are urgently needed, WHO officials said in a statement, to determine whether the outbreak, which began almost a month ago, has spread from the farm to affect household flocks.
Poultry deaths in adjacent Kano province are reported but no cause is yet determined.
The most immediate public health need is to reduce opportunities for human infection, WHO said. Investigations of human cases in Asia and elsewhere have identified close contact with diseased or dead household poultry as the most likely source of human exposure to the virus.
In Nigeria, as in other parts of Africa, most village households maintain free-ranging flocks of poultry for income and food. Close human contact with poultry is extensive.
If the virus has spread to household flocks in Nigeria, public information campaigns will be needed to warn people to avoid high-risk behaviors, including slaughtering, defeathering, butchering and cooking diseased poultry.
WHO officials said they are ready to respond to Nigerian requests for support, including providing assessment teams and essential supplies and equipment.
Infectious disease staff members at the WHO regional office in Harare, Zimbabwe, held an emergency meeting February 8 to assess the situation, plan a response and evaluate the possible risk to other African countries. A team of experts is on standby.
The source of the Nigerian outbreak is not known, but the country lies along a flight route for birds migrating from central Asia.
Full DNA sequence information about the virus in Nigeria is expected soon. The information will let scientists compare the virus with those that have caused human cases elsewhere, and help assess human health risks.
For more information about the disease and efforts to combat it, see Bird Flu.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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