Concern grows over possible bird flu spread in West Africa

The FAO has expressed growing concern that the bird flu virus H5N1 may spread to other countries in West Africa following the discovery of the virus in Nigeria last week. The effects on a region already facing severe malnutrition would be devastating, the UN agency warned.

"We should provide incentives to poor African farmers to report immediately if they suspect an outbreak among poultry, and discourage them from rushing to sell birds on the market," said Joseph Domenech, FAO's Chief Veterinary Officer, who is currently in Nigeria with a joint FAO/OIE team of experts.

The country of greatest concern is Niger, which directly borders the affected areas in Nigeria and where over two million people are already vulnerable to acute hunger.

"The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus poses a very serious threat to animal health in West Africa. If a poultry epidemic should develop beyond the boundaries of Nigeria the effects would be disastrous for the livelihoods and the food security of millions of people," said Domenech.

The agency noted that since the first reports of H5N1 outbreaks in Asia at the end of 2003 nearly 200 million domestic poultry have died or been culled in order to contain its spread. The economic loss to the economy of affected Asian countries has been estimated around US$10 billion.