Nigeria's government has launched an investigation to determine whether a fatal bird flu strain discovered last week has spread to humans after several people were reported ill.


In a bid to contain the disease, authorities fanned out across commercial poultry farms in the north of West African country to destroy chickens suspected of being infected, slashing their necks and setting them ablaze in dirt pits.

Health Minister Eyitayo Lambo told The Associated Press officials that "one or two cases of reported illnesses among humans which could be due to bird flu, though none has been confirmed so far".

Investigations are being conducted in the commercial capital, Lagos, and in the northern state of Kaduna, where the H5N1 bird flu strain was reported on a farm in Jaji on Wednesday. Lambo gave no details, but said he expected results to be released by Sunday.

Elsewhere, China reported its eighth human death from the H5N1 strain, and Indonesia reported its eighteenth death. Italy, Greece and Bulgaria on today became the latest countries to record the strain head appeared in birds.

Bird flu has killed at least 88 people in Asia and Turkey since 2003 and ravaged poultry stocks across Asia, killing or forcing the slaughter of more than 140 million birds, according to the World Health Organization.

It is difficult for people to catch bird flu, though, and no human H5N1 cases have been recorded in Africa.

The U.N.'s bird flu chief, Dr. David Nabarro, said the disease's arrival in Nigeria should be "a strong wake-up call" to all countries. He said the flu's spread from Asia to Europe and Africa has increased the chance the virus will mutate and set off pandemic that could be transmitted among humans.

"Unfortunately, we cannot tell when the mutation might happen, or where it might happen, or how unpleasant the mutant virus will turn out to be," he said. "Nevertheless, we must remain on high alert for the possibility of sustained human-to-human virus transmission and of a pandemic starting at any time." H5N1's arrival in Africa, a poor, ill-prepared continent, was first reported on Wednesday at Sambawa Farms in Jaji and the virus has
been confirmed at five farms in all: one in Kaduna, two in Plateau state and two in Kano. Authorities say at least 100,000 birds have died so far.

Twenty other farms are suspected to have been infected with bird flu in Kano and at least two more in Kaduna, according to Shehu Bawa and Ishaya Dangiwa, who head the government veterinary teams in those states.

Police, veterinarians and farmers began destroying thousands of chickens on farms across the north on Friday.

At one farm believed infected in Jaji, veterinary officials destroyed chickens today, slashing their necks, dumping them in pits and setting them on fire. Dangiwa said all birds in a three-kilometer (two-mile) radius of Sambawa Farms would be destroyed.

Nearby, police armed with automatic weapons finished off a group of 180 ostriches. They had begun culling the birds Friday, but ran out of bullets and were forced to finish the job today.

While a seven-man veterinary team at Sambawa Farms wore orange protective clothing, only one of four veterinary workers destroying birds at another farm in Kano wore the same, underscoring the lack of equipment and resources necessary to effectively carry out the job.

Most of those taking part were sprayed with disinfectant before culling began. Six farmworkers helping them used bare hands to handle the chickens, though, pushing wheelbarrows full of dead poultry into a pit and setting them on fire.

On Friday, a Nigerian official said birds would be destroyed only where experts could confirm the presence of the fatal bird flu strain.

International experts have pressed Nigeria to do more to combat the first outbreak in Africa of H5N1, and Nabarro praised Nigeria's efforts.

Nigerian authorities insist they are taking the necessary measures against the disease, but agriculture spokesman Tope Ajakaiye said there were no plans to close poultry markets or to impose restrictions on the trade or movement of poultry measures.

"I don't think it has gotten to that level," Ajakaiye said. "We don't want to cause a situation where there will be much panic or alarm."

GOD HELP US!