Nigeria confirms fresh outbreak of bird flu

Theresa42 · May 25, 2006

Nigeria confirms fresh outbreak of bird flu
May 26, 2006

The Nigerian Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) on Thursday confirmed another outbreak of bird flu at a poultry farm in Kakara village in the northern state of Kano.

Timothy Obi, leader of the Avian Influenza task force team of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) , told reporters that the institute said it had diagnosed samples of dead chickens from the farm and found them to be infected with the deadly H5N1 virus.

An official at the Avian Influenza Crisis Management Center who preferred anonymity also confirmed the outbreak.

"The virus was detected on Monday among the over 16,000 chickens on the farm," he said, adding that 11 samples of the dead chickens from the farm were taken to the NVRI for laboratory analysis which later confirmed the virus.

Malam Mohammed Aminu Adamu, chairman of Kano Branch of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), said that already all birds at Omatiga farm where the outbreak occurred have been culled while the farm had been decontaminated to curtail possible spread.

According to a source at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the government is worried at the resurgence of the disease in Kano, a month after it was declared free of the virus was worrisome.

The source said the government, the Nigeria Veterinary Council and the FAO officials were intensifying their surveillance, while the NVRI was continuing with the task of finding ways to stamp out the deadly disease.

The outbreak of avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu, was first confirmed in the country on Feb.7, 2006. But so far no human being has been infected.

http://english.people.com.cn/200605/26/eng20060526_268732.html

Mingus · May 26, 2006

Re: Nigeria confirms fresh outbreak of bird flu

Machine Translation from
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=14615#post14615

Confirmation of a new propagation of the aviary influenza

NIGERIA - May 26, 2006 - XINHUA
The veterinary Institute of research of Nigeria (NVRI) confirmed Thursday a new propagation of the aviary influenza in an avicolous farm of the village of Kakara, in the northern State of Kano.
Timothy Obi, the person in charge for the team of the special forces for the aviary influenza of the United Nations for the food and agriculture (FAO), declared with journalists that the Institute announced that it had diagnosed samples taken on dead chickens of this farm and discovered that these chickens were infected by the mortal virus H5N1.
A person in charge for the Center of management of the crises of the aviary flu virus also confirmed the propagation under cover of anonymity.
"the virus was detected Monday on more than 16 000 chickens of the farm", it declared, and to add that 11 samples, taken on chickens dead of the farm and brought to the NVRI for analyses in laboratory, confirmed later the presence of the virus.
Malam Mohammed Aminu Adamu, the president of the Kano Form of the Association of the poultries of Nigeria (SIDE), indicated that right now all the birds of the farm of Omatiga, where the disease was propagated, were cut down, while the firm one was decontaminated, in order to reduce a possible propagation.
According to a source of the federal ministry of Agriculture and rural Development, the government as well as the persons in charge for the veterinary Council of Nigeria and FAO intensified their monitoring, while the NVRI continued its mission which is to find means in order to eliminate this mortal disease.
The propagation of the aviary influenza was confirmed for the first time in the country the 7
February 2006. Until now, nobody was infected.

Sharpe · Jun 30, 2006

Re: Nigeria confirms fresh outbreak of bird flu

BF detected at 3 farms in eastern Nigeria. Map is in honor of Mingus.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19647709-23109,00.html
This story is from our news.com.au network Source: Reuters
H5N1 found in remote Nigerian state
From correspondents in Abuja
July 01, 2006
THE deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has appeared in remote Taraba state in eastern Nigeria, but in most other parts of Africa's most populous country the spread of the virus is slow, officials said overnight.

The first African country to be hit by bird flu, Nigeria has not reported any human cases of the disease although experts warn surveillance may not be completely effective and cases may have gone undetected.

The detection of the virus in Taraba means bird flu is now present in 14 of Nigeria's 36 states and in the Federal Capital Territory. The state that had most recently joined the list was Lagos in April.

"We have identified it in three places in Taraba, one commercial farm and two places where there are backyard poultry," said Lami Lombin, director of the National Veterinary Research Institute which tests for bird flu.

"There are a few places in Plateau and Kaduna where we are still getting new outbreaks. Elsewhere all the samples we're getting are negative," said Mr Lombin.

Plateau and Kaduna, which form a strip of north-central Nigeria, were among the first four states where H5N1 was detected in February. Taraba borders Plateau to the east.

In the first few weeks after the first cases were found, bird flu spread rapidly in poultry across the country despite measures to contain it such as culling and quarantine.

Veterinary officials say it would not be safe to consider the disease contained, but recent evidence suggests measures to prevent its spread are working better than at the start.

The H5N1 virus can infect people who come into close contact with sick birds. It has infected 228 people since late 2003 and killed at least 130, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

Mingus · Jun 30, 2006

Re: Nigeria confirms fresh outbreak of bird flu

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19647709-23109,00.html

This story is from our news.com.au network Source: Reuters

H5N1 found in remote Nigerian state
From correspondents in Abuja July 01, 2006
THE deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has appeared in remote Taraba state in eastern Nigeria, but in most other parts of Africa's most populous country the spread of the virus is slow, officials said overnight.
The first African country to be hit by bird flu, Nigeria has not reported any human cases of the disease although experts warn surveillance may not be completely effective and cases may have gone undetected.

The detection of the virus in Taraba means bird flu is now present in 14 of Nigeria's 36 states and in the Federal Capital Territory. The state that had most recently joined the list was Lagos in April.

"We have identified it in three places in Taraba, one commercial farm and two places where there are backyard poultry," said Lami Lombin, director of the National Veterinary Research Institute which tests for bird flu.

"There are a few places in Plateau and Kaduna where we are still getting new outbreaks. Elsewhere all the samples we're getting are negative," said Mr Lombin.

Plateau and Kaduna, which form a strip of north-central Nigeria, were among the first four states where H5N1 was detected in February. Taraba borders Plateau to the east.

In the first few weeks after the first cases were found, bird flu spread rapidly in poultry across the country despite measures to contain it such as culling and quarantine.

Veterinary officials say it would not be safe to consider the disease contained, but recent evidence suggests measures to prevent its spread are working better than at the start.

The H5N1 virus can infect people who come into close contact with sick birds. It has infected 228 people since late 2003 and killed at least 130, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

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Sharpe · Jul 3, 2006

Re: Nigeria confirms fresh outbreak of bird flu

More details coming out of eastern Nigeria. More than 20 farms affected in the areas of Ibi/Ibbi and Gassol in Tabura, at least one a commercial farm. They say in the article that Ibi got hit first and then Gassol, which is plausible, but judging by the fact that they're both on the river and this river has had ongoing infections since January (and Ibi is downstream of Gassol), I don't think it likely that they are suddenly getting outbreaks, but that it has been more of a long-term continuous process, interrupted whenever a large commercial farm is affected and tests are run, which is how it was detected in Nigeria in the first place. Anyway, the red arrows are the latest cases, and I've drawn out the eastern branch of the Niger river and you can see how it goes into Cameroon and Chad.

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=14&click_id=117&art_id=qw1151830802678B252
Deadly bird flu strain found in Nigeria <table style="width: 405px; height: 44px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 360px;" class="caption">
July 02 2006 at 01:48PM </td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2" style="height: 1px; background-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">
</td></tr> </tbody> </table> Kano, Nigeria - The most lethal strain of bird flu has been detected in the eastern Nigerian state of Taraba, bringing to 15 the number of states, out of a total of 36, to be affected by the virus, a state official said Saturday.

"Last week an outbreak of bird flu was confirmed in Ibbi local government area and it has spread to Gassol," said Yusuf Sanda, a spokeman for the state governor. "So far 20 farms have been infected and chickens killed.

"The case has been taken over by the federal ministry of agriculture for containment and culling," he said.

"The state government has set up a committee to look into the ways and means to assist the farmers. Veterinary experts have been sent to these area to ascertain the damage and the extent of the spread."

The presence of the H5N1 virus was confirmed by a laboratory of the National Institute of Veterinary Research at Vom after tests on samples provided by three local government departments in Tabara, which lies on the border with northern Cameroon.

Bird flu has been detected in several northern Nigerian states and in the federal Nigerian capital Abuja.

Nore than 450 000 chickens have already been slaughtered in Nigeria, mainly in the north where the disease was detected last February for the first time in sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition to Nigeria, three other west African countries - Ivory Coast, Niger and Burkina Faso - have reported cases of the disease.

So far no country in sub-Saharan Africa has registered cases of human contamination.

West African ministers last month adopted a plan for fighting the outbreak of the deadly avian influenza in the region and preventing its spread to humans.

The plan, which includes setting up an emergency fund, was agreed at the end of a one-day meeting in Nigeria organised by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) of ministers in charge of agriculture, health, livestock, environment and integration. - Sapa-AFP

Sharpe · Jul 4, 2006

Re: Nigeria confirms fresh outbreak of bird flu

Read this and weep. What a difficult job--to be a a President! I would never envy his job. He has to please everyone, and make the country look good for future investment. But yikes. These 20 outbreaks in Taraba are being brushed under the rug, and in 3-4 months in November, the country will start exporting tons of poultry again. Yikes. I do not honestly know what to say. All I know is that that might not be such a good idea. Based on my own estimates, Qinghai H5N1 first arrived in Africa in mid-October, when wild birds started dying in Algeria on the western route and in early November in Djibouti on the eastern route. This is consistent with the prior arrival of the virus in the Mediterranean European countries. Poultry farmers in Nigeria first began noticing large numbers of dead poultry in December. So, the ultimate conclusion is that in 3-4 months, when the Nigerians begin exporting their poultry they will also be importing the latest strains from around the world. Not that it matters a whole lot who they export it to, because those countries will also be 'importing', but the more transport that goes on, artificial or natural, the more chances for recombination, especially if their focus will be on selling chicks. And I'm not even going to begin to discuss the school egg programs--I just hope Nigerian kids all like hard-boiled.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=52198
There's No Bird Flu in Taraba - Obasanjo

<tt style="color: black;">From Josephine Lohor in Abuja, 07.04.2006</tt>

President Olusegun Oba-sanjo yesterday denied that the Avian influenza, popularly known as Bird Flu, has been identified in Taraba State.
Speaking to a delegation of the Poultry Association of Nigeria in the State House, Obasanjo said, “it has not been diagnosed or classified as avian flu.
"I spoke to the Governor, who told me that in a backyard farm in Ibi, some birds were dying, and based on precedent, he ordered them slaughtered and the farm cordoned off. This is the normal thing to do.”
He, however, said people should not just jump to conclusion but should await diagnosis, because as far he was concerned, it might just be some few birds that were affected in Taraba State.
“Nobody has the right to call this avian flu; no diagnosis has been carried out to ascertain the problem. It could be any of half a dozen chicken diseases,” he said.
Obasanjo said he was satisfied with the action taken by the Taraba State Governor, and advised that “Nigerians shouldn’t rush to call themselves bad names, giving the nation a bad image without foundation.”
He said the country now had “enough equipment to contain any outbreaks of the avian flu, even to cover the West African sub-region,” and commended members of the Poultry Association for the support they gave government during the unfortunate outbreak of the flu in February.
He welcomed the determination of the poultry farmers to begin exporting day-old chicks and hatchable eggs by November 2006, despite the six-month setback arising from losses from the flu, and said government would encourage the achievement of that goal.
He challenged them to set a target of $20 million export earnings by the end of the year, and spoke of the need to get support for the small farmers, since “the banks will not touch their
business because it is small."
President Obasanjo also said the Federal Government would encourage state governments to include eggs in the school meal programmes and commended ministers for Agriculture, Health, and Information and National Orientation and their staff for the exemplary cooperation during the avian flu outbreak.
“Their cooperation stood out in Africa as an example on how to treat the avian flu,” he said.
Earlier, Otunba Badmus, President of the Poultry Association of Nigeria, said the Association suffered losses amounting to N24
billion to the flu, and needed access to soft bank loans to be able to recover and begin export in November, 2006.
He stated the preparedness of the Association to provide sufficient eggs for the school feeding programme.

Theresa42 · Jul 4, 2006

Re: Nigeria confirms fresh outbreak of bird flu

vaffie said:
What a difficult job--to be a a President! I would never envy his job. He has to please everyone, and make the country look good for future investment. But yikes.

And he has to protect his own investments ... President Obasanjo owns one of the seven largest poultry operations in Nigeria .... This from last February ...

Obasanjo owns poultry farm

She said: "The president's farm is not exempted. In this situation no one is exempted. We take sample of the birds for testing."

Daniel Atsu, managing director of Obasanjo Holdings Ltd, said the president's poultry farm with one million chickens and a staff of 4 000 was among the country's seven largest....

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1883397,00.html

Sharpe · Jul 4, 2006

Re: Nigeria confirms fresh outbreak of bird flu

That's sad. I hope he's not too biased. Anyway, I checked to see where his million-chicken farm is, and it's in Otta in Ogun, just north of Lagos. The most recent news out of Ogun is the below from March:

Bird Flu Spreads To Ogun
March 11, 2006

kazeem akintunde
Assistant News Editor
bukola ojeme
Abuja

The much-dreaded avian flu has finally arrived the South-West via Ogun State and the first casualty is Animashaun Farms in Onibudo town; Akute area of Ifo Local Government area.

Already, over 8,000 birds at the farm have so far been killed by Ogun State Government officials who have moved in to salvage the situation and prevent the spread to neighbouring farms.

The farm management has also stopped the sale of chicken in the farm. Saturday Independent reporter who posed as a prospective chicken buyer on Friday was told that there were no chickens for sale then and in the nearest future.

Movement in and around the farm has also been restricted and visitors are no longer allowed into the farm premises.

Workers on the farm have also been given hand gloves and face masks in order to protect them from contacting the virus.

A highly dependable source told Saturday Independent that the Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture was at the farm earlier in the week to monitor the culling of the chickens.

A senior aide to the governor confirmed the spread of the flu to the state but assured that the government was taking all necessary precautions to prevent further spread.

The federal government had on Wednesday at the end of its weekly executive council meeting announced the spread of the flu to southern states of Rivers, Benue and Anambra State.

Besides Kano and Plateau State, where most of the chicken that tested positive to the bird flu, were known to have originated, the wetlands of Yobe and Borno States have also been identified as a possible points of entry of the disease.

Penultimate week, the federal government had announced that, most of the chickens that tested positive to the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu had been found to be broilers smuggled into the country by a Kano-based poultry farmer.

But Information and National Orientation Minister, Mr Frank Nweke Jnr on Thursday in Abuja, disclosed that preliminary investigations also suggests that the bird flu could have come into Nigeria through the seasonal migratory birds that converge in the wetlands of Yobe and Borno state.

Nweke who spoke during a meeting with State Commissioners of Information, UNICEF and Nigeria?s development partners on Communication Strategy and Activity Plan on Bird Flu, announced federal government?s offer of financial support for poultry farmers who lost their stock to the disease to re-stock.

According to Nweke, ?at certain wetlands, every year in the North, birds congregate. They fly all the way from Asia and end in the wetlands of Yobe and Borno. You have them in the wetlands in the Northern part of Nigeria?

?Then intelligence reports provided by the security agencies and customs identified activities of some poultry farmers in Kano who imported the birds. You are already aware of that?

He, however, expressed worry at the way most Nigerians have totally gone off chicken since the outbreak of the bird flu, insisting that, ?when chicken and eggs are well cooked, in keeping with our culture, it is safe to consume. We know that these things are safe when they are properly cooked? [Never mind about preparation, of course....]

He therefore reminded the State Information Commissioners that, ?it is important we communicate this message. The greatest weapon to combat the out break is information.

Nweke informed the gathering that government?s desire to check the spread of the disease is predicated on the need to ensure the survival of the nation?s young poultry industry and averting a negative socio-economic trend on the polity.

?The Nigeria poultry industry is relatively young. The emergence of big time poultry farmers was not there until in the last two decades.

?Government is deeply concerned about the socio-economic impact, the outbreak of the flu would have on the well-being of Nigerians,? he added.

Concern for the survival of the poultry industry by government, Nweke continued, has prompted it, ?to offer to provide some kind of restocking funds. ?The Minister of Agriculture has been directed to work with the Nigerian Agricultural Bank to provide funding for the farmers, after this thing is over, so that they can get back on their feet.?

http://www.independentng.com/saturday/nnmar110605.htm

Sharpe · Jul 5, 2006

Re: Nigeria confirms fresh outbreak of bird flu

Where do they find these people? Not like the Asian strains, more like the southern Russian and northern European strains? Those strains are from Qinghai Lake, silly! And where did they think the southern Russia strains came from anyway. Out of thin air? I guess they just mean that the strains didn't align with the vast majority of strains that have been affecting poultry in SE Asia for the last three years, but that doesn't mean theirs didn't come from Asia. It is interesting, though that they found that it had entered multiple times, in the north and in the southwest--meaning that it had flown in from the Middle East and via western Europe-Africa. I hope they release their sequences. Very interesting. As for the rest, how can they draw random conclusions like wild birds from Asia didn't carry it. Beeeezarre.

http://news.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=15742

Asia not the source of Nigerian outbreak of bird flu

Genetic analysis of the H5N1 avian influenza that has erupted in Nigeria shows the virus hit the country in waves but none originated from Southeast Asia, the seat of the bird flu crisis.<o

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