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February 09, 2006
Nigeria plans huge bird flu cull
A large-scale cull is being planned at a Nigerian farm where thousands of chickens have died from bird flu.
A team of Nigerian experts is heading for the farm - owned by Sports Minister Saidu Balarabe Sambawa - in northern Kaduna state to carry out the cull.
Agriculture Minister Adamu Bello says all birds at any farm where suspicious deaths have occurred will be culled.
This is the first confirmed case of H5N1 bird flu in Africa, and experts fear it could spread rapidly.
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Officials are investigating whether the deaths of thousands of chickens in two neighbouring states were also caused by bird flu.
International experts are heading for Kaduna, as well as the northern state of Kano and the state of Jos, to the south, where the other deaths took place.
Chickens started dying in the area four weeks ago, raising fears that bird flu could have spread across Nigeria - and to neighbouring countries - before it was confirmed on Wednesday.
Quarantines and other restrictions are only now being imposed on farms near where the chickens have died.
'Strong precautions'
Dr David Nabarro of the World Health Organization (WHO) told the BBC the virus "might be quite widespread".
"If it's in Nigeria it might also be in other countries that are less well-equipped."
He said governments and ordinary people would have to take "very, very strong precautions" to protect themselves and stop the disease spreading.
A BBC correspondent at Sambawa farm in says a quarantine has been imposed and all workers have been sent home.
Mr Sambawa has told the BBC's Adamu Yusuf that he suspects the outbreak is down to "sabotage", possibly by disgruntled former workers at the farm, which used to have 40,000 chickens.
Just 5,000 are left, a farm-worker told the AFP news agency.
Mr Sambawa was speaking by telephone from the African Cup of Nations in Egypt, where he saw Nigeria lose in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
The agriculture minister has suggested illegal poultry imports may be behind the outbreak.
The disease may also have been spread by migrating birds.
Rushing to market
The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos, Nigeria, says an outbreak of bird flu could have devastating consequences in a country where millions of people rear chickens as a basic source of income.
A northern Nigerian farmer has told the BBC News website that farmers are rushing to sell dead chickens in markets before restrictions are imposed.
Experts have long feared that if H5N1 reached Africa, it could quickly take hold and spread out of control.
Dr Alex Thiermann of the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health told the BBC that Africa's "veterinary infrastructures are very weak".
More than 80 people have died of H5N1 bird flu since the disease's resurgence in December 2003 - most of them in South-East Asia.
Experts point out that cross-infection to humans is still relatively rare, and usually occurs where people have been in close contact with infected birds.
But they say if the H5N1 strain mutates so it can be passed between humans, it could become a global pandemic, killing millions.
Posted by Publisher at February 9, 2006 04:23 PM
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