http://za.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-04-10T151910Z_01_BAN055131_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-BIRDFLU-AFRICA-20060410.XML
Bird flu may have infected people in West Africa
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Bird flu may have infected people in West Africa and weak health systems in the region could be delaying detection of human cases, a World Health Organisation official said on Monday.
Burkina Faso became the fourth West African country to detect the dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry last week. Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon have already confirmed the virus since it spread to the continent in February.
The disease has also been found in Egypt, where three people have died after being infected with the virus.
"So far, there is no confirmed human case of avian flu virus infection in West Africa but this is not a reason to say there is no human case," Honore Meda, a WHO medical officer who represented the health body at a bird flu seminar in Nairobi, told Reuters in an interview.
"There is a risk and probability of human cases occurring in West Africa but there's no evidence to say there is or there is not a human case. But so far we are not in a position to confirm firmly that there's no detected human case."
The WHO said in February that it planned to test samples from four Nigerians, including a woman who died, for bird flu. However, the samples failed to yield a clear result.
Bird flu has spread rapidly since 2003 from Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. While mainly affecting animals, scientists fear the disease could mutate into a form that could pass between humans, causing a pandemic.
More than 100 people have died after being infected with the virus since 2003, most of them in Asia.
Experts are meeting in the Kenyan capital this week for a U.N. Environmental Programme bird flu seminar.
Delays in pinpointing outbreaks in poultry highlight the difficulty faced by African countries which lack the specialised laboratories needed to identify the different bird flu strains.
"In Africa, only in the big cities you can see very good laboratory equipment. In rural areas, where they are really involved in poultry, there is no effective laboratory," Meda said.
Sparse hospitals and primary medical services, lack of health education, poor communications and the prevalence of a host of other deadly diseases all mitigate against rapid detection of any human cases of bird flu on the continent.
"The health system is usually weak ... We should really strengthen our health systems and surveillance systems to be able to detect and confirm any new case occurring in humans," Meda said.
Bird flu may have infected people in West Africa
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Bird flu may have infected people in West Africa and weak health systems in the region could be delaying detection of human cases, a World Health Organisation official said on Monday.
Burkina Faso became the fourth West African country to detect the dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry last week. Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon have already confirmed the virus since it spread to the continent in February.
The disease has also been found in Egypt, where three people have died after being infected with the virus.
"So far, there is no confirmed human case of avian flu virus infection in West Africa but this is not a reason to say there is no human case," Honore Meda, a WHO medical officer who represented the health body at a bird flu seminar in Nairobi, told Reuters in an interview.
"There is a risk and probability of human cases occurring in West Africa but there's no evidence to say there is or there is not a human case. But so far we are not in a position to confirm firmly that there's no detected human case."
The WHO said in February that it planned to test samples from four Nigerians, including a woman who died, for bird flu. However, the samples failed to yield a clear result.
Bird flu has spread rapidly since 2003 from Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. While mainly affecting animals, scientists fear the disease could mutate into a form that could pass between humans, causing a pandemic.
More than 100 people have died after being infected with the virus since 2003, most of them in Asia.
Experts are meeting in the Kenyan capital this week for a U.N. Environmental Programme bird flu seminar.
Delays in pinpointing outbreaks in poultry highlight the difficulty faced by African countries which lack the specialised laboratories needed to identify the different bird flu strains.
"In Africa, only in the big cities you can see very good laboratory equipment. In rural areas, where they are really involved in poultry, there is no effective laboratory," Meda said.
Sparse hospitals and primary medical services, lack of health education, poor communications and the prevalence of a host of other deadly diseases all mitigate against rapid detection of any human cases of bird flu on the continent.
"The health system is usually weak ... We should really strengthen our health systems and surveillance systems to be able to detect and confirm any new case occurring in humans," Meda said.
Someone "on the ground" finally telling it like it is.