AFD - Togo

[sharon sanders]

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Bird Flu Resurfaces In Togo Poultry


# 2289



http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html


UPDATED ( see bottom)


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While the strain of bird flu in this outbreak has not been identified, last year (June 2007), Togo reported H5N1 outbreaks at a number of farms at Aneho, near the border with Benin.

Togo says bird flu hits poultry farm


Originally published 06:18 p.m., September 9, 2008

LOME, TOGO (AP) - An outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed in the West African nation of Togo for the first time since last year, the Health Ministry said Tuesday.


The virus was detected at a poultry farm housing more than 4,500 birds in the village of Agbata outside the capital, Lome, said a ministry statement read over state television. It was not known how many birds died, but more than 80 per cent of those infected by the flu were fatalities, the ministry said.


The statement did not say whether the birds were infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, which has scientists concerned because it has the potential to infect humans. At least 235 people have died of bird flu worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.


Most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds, but health experts worry the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily among humans, sparking a pandemic that some say could kill millions of people and overload health care systems.


The Health Ministry banned the sale of all chicken and poultry products in the region around the farm.
​

UPDATE
This morning Reuters adds details with information on the quarantining of the village where these bird deaths occurred.

Togo quarantines village in suspected bird flu case

Wed 10 Sep 2008, 10:44 GMT

LOME (Reuters) - Togo has imposed a quarantine on a southern village after a suspected outbreak of bird flu killed nearly 4,000 poultry in the small West African state, the government said on Wednesday.

The government's website said the sudden death of the birds at Gbata near Avepozo in the coastal Lacs prefecture indicated a possible outbreak of bird flu.

Samples from the dead chickens were being sent to laboratories in Ghana and Italy to test for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the disease, the website added.
​

Posted by FLA_MEDIC at http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/09/bird-flu-resurfaces-in-togo-poultry.html 7:32 PM

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: AFD - Togo

Monday, September 15, 2008

Togo Confirms Recent Poultry Deaths Due to H5N1


# 2301






No real surprise here, considering that in July of 2007, the H5N1 virus was detected in the West African nation of Togo.

Last week we received reports of suspected `bird flu' deaths among poultry in Agbata outside the capital, Lome. Samples were sent to a testing lab in Italy.

Today we get confirmation that they were due to the H5N1 virus

Togo: Recent bird flu outbreak is deadly H5N1

The Associated Press
Published: September 15, 2008

LOME, Togo: Togo state television says lab tests performed after a recent outbreak of bird flu have confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, which has the potential to infect humans.

No human cases have been detected so far in Togo, however.

State media reported Monday the lab tests were carried out by experts in Ghana and Italy after the outbreak was discovered last week among several thousand birds in Agbata outside the capital, Lome.

The Health Ministry says "precautionary measures have been taken to contain the situation."


At least 235 people have died of bird flu worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.




​

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: AFD - Togo

Sept. 27, 2008

Major Culling Operation In Togo Capital



# 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.
(Continue . . )
​

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.