Nigeria, human BF confirmed

[Anne]

Re: Nigeria, human BF confirmed

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_02_03/en/index.html


Avian influenza - situation in Nigeria - update
3 February 2007
The government of Nigeria has announced today the presence of A/H5N1 avian influenza virus in a 22-year-old deceased female from Lagos. The initial positive test findings from a laboratory in Nigeria were confirmed by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in London (see previous report). Further investigations are under way to identify the source of her infection.
All samples from contacts of the deceased have tested negative by the WHO Collaborating Centre.
H5N1 virus has been identified in poultry outbreaks in Nigeria and similar to other affected countries, sporadic cases of human infection with avian influenza are not unexpected. WHO is working with the government of Nigeria to carry out intensive surveillance and reports of additional suspected cases may occur as people with influenza-like symptoms seek medical advice.
The H5N1 avian influenza virus is not transmitted to humans through properly prepared and cooked food. Cases of human infection with H5N1 have frequently been linked to the home slaughter and subsequent handling of diseased or dead birds prior to cooking. These practices represent the highest risk to human infection and are the most important to avoid. When handling raw poultry or live or dead birds, it is imperative to disinfect hands and surfaces with soap and water. Consumers also need to be sure that during the cooking process, poultry reaches temperatures of at least 70?C in all parts and that eggs are fully cooked throughout. Detailed recommendations concerning food safety are available here.

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[HenryN]

Re: Nigeria, human BF confirmed

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02040702/H5N1_Lagos_WHO_Confirm.html

 

[Mingus]

Re: Nigeria, human BF confirmed

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=103245

<TABLE><FORM id=detail_content name=detail_content action=content.asp method=get><TBODY><TR><TD align=right>CattleNetwork_Today 2/5/2007 8:23:00 AM</TD><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region><st1lace>Nigeria</st1lace></st1:country-region>'s 1st Bird Flu Death Confirmed By WHO – Minister<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
<o> </o>
Health officials in <st1:country-region><st1lace>Nigeria</st1lace></st1:country-region> reported several human cases of bird flu on Wednesday, saying one woman had died and a family member was infected but responding to treatment. <o></o>
<o></o>
With WHO's confirmation, <st1:country-region><st1lace>Nigeria</st1lace></st1:country-region>'s public health authorities are now focused on finding out if any other people have been infected and taking measures to prevent further spread, Nweke said. <o></o>
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"It bears restating, therefore, that H5N1 is widespread and continuing in the poultry population in <st1:country-region><st1lace>Nigeria</st1lace></st1:country-region>," he said, with sick birds found in 19 of <st1:country-region><st1lace>Nigeria</st1lace></st1:country-region>'s 36 states. <o></o>
<o></o>
<st1:country-region><st1lace>Nigeria</st1lace></st1:country-region> reported <st1lace>Africa</st1lace>'s first cases of H5N1 a year ago. Cases have since been reported in <st1:country-region><st1lace>Cameroon</st1lace></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1lace>Djibouti</st1lace></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1lace>Niger</st1lace></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1lace>Ivory Coast</st1lace></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1lace>Sudan</st1lace></st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region><st1lace>Burkina Faso</st1lace></st1:country-region>, and human casualties in <st1:country-region><st1lace>Egypt</st1lace></st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region><st1lace>Djibouti</st1lace></st1:country-region>. <o></o>
<o></o>
There are fears that it may have spread even farther, monitoring is difficult with <st1lace>Africa</st1lace>'s weak infrastructure. <o></o>
<o></o>
Bird flu has killed at least 164 people worldwide, though most victims were infected directly by sick birds. The virus is difficult for humans to catch, though scientists fear a mutation could make it easier for the virus to be transmitted between people, possibly sparking a pandemic. <o></o>
<o></o>
Source: Dow Jones Newswires<o></o>
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[Mingus]

Re: Nigeria, human BF confirmed

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=21446&Cr=bird&Cr1=flu


Human bird flu death confirmed in Nigeria, first in sub-Saharan Africa – UN

<LEFT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=120 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=VALIGN=TOP>

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>[SIZE=-2][/SIZE]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>[SIZE=-1]5 February 2007 [/SIZE]– The United Nations health agency has confirmed a fatal human case of bird flu in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, only the second incidence of the H5N1 virus in humans in the sub-Saharan region, and is working with the Nigerian authorities to identify the source of infection.
All samples from contacts of the victim, a 22-year-old woman from Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, have so far tested negative, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said. The women’s infection with the H5N1 virus was confirmed by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in London.
The agency noted that H5N1 has been identified in poultry outbreaks in Nigeria and, as in other affected countries, sporadic cases of human infection are not unexpected. The only other sub-Saharan African country to report human bird flu is Djibouti with one non-fatal case. North of the Sahara only Egypt has had human cases – 19 with 11 of them fatal.
There have so far been 271 confirmed cases worldwide, 165 of them fatal, the vast majority in South-East Asia. Ever since the first human case of H5N1, linked to widespread poultry outbreaks in Viet Nam and Thailand, was reported in January 2004, UN health officials have warned that the virus could evolve into a human pandemic if it mutates into a form which could transmit easily between people.
The so-called Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1920 is estimated to have killed from 20 million to 40 million people worldwide. More than 200 million birds have died worldwide from either the virus or preventive culling.
There is one other suspected death from the virus in Nigeria and WHO is working with the Government to carry out intensive surveillance. Reports of additional suspected cases may occur as people with influenza-like symptoms seek medical advice.
The agency stressed that H5N1 is not transmitted to humans through properly prepared and cooked food. Cases of human infection have frequently been linked to the home slaughter and subsequent handling of diseased or dead birds prior to cooking and these practices represent the highest risk of human infection. When handling raw poultry or live or dead birds, it is imperative to disinfect hands and surfaces with soap and water, WHO said. Consumers also need to be sure that during the cooking process, poultry reaches temperatures of at least 70 centigrade in all parts and that eggs are fully cooked throughout.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Nigeria, human BF confirmed

Bird flu virus tests on two more Nigerian deaths negative so far

ABUJA (AFP) - Tests on samples from two people feared to have died of bird flu in Nigeria have so far proved negative, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has found, according to a senior Nigerian health official.


"The WHO said the two samples are negative but that does not preclude further investigation", Abdullahi Nasidi, the federal director of public health, told AFP.

Nigeria last week reported its first human bird flu death and laboratory tests carried out in Britain on Saturday confirmed that a 22-year-old woman who died in Lagos on January 17 weeks after plucking and disembowelling a chicken was indeed a victim of the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

One of the two people whose samples have so far tested negative is the late mother of the young woman who died. The other is a woman from Taraba State, bordering on Cameroon in eastern Nigeria, health officials have said.

Meanwhile, a team of WHO epidemiologists was in Nigeria Monday working with federal health and agriculture officials following confirmation of the country's first human victim of the H5N1 bird flu virus.

"The two-man team, both epidemiologists, who arrived in Nigeria at the weekend are already working with officials of the federal ministry of health," said an official of the world health body, who requested anonymity.

"While in Nigeria, they will assess the avian flu situation in the country and assist the Nigerian officials in terms of surveillance," the official added.

Health experts in Lagos warned that human cases in Nigeria could be difficult to contain given the poverty in which many Nigerians live and the rampant corruption that makes measures and bans difficult to enforce.

Immediately after the announcement of the deadly case in Lagos, Benin, Cameroon and Niger intensified surveillance at their borders.

The H5N1 strain of avian influenza was first detected in Nigeria in a poultry farm in Jaji, outside the northern city of Kaduna, in February 2006, from where it spread to other parts of the country.

Nigeria's poultry population is estimated at 140 million. Backyard farmers account for 60 percent of all poultry producers, commercial farmers for 25 percent and semi-commercial farmers for 15 percent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070205/hl_afp/healthflunigeria_070205192341