Akinwunmi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture, has said that the H5N1 bird flu has now spread to 21 commercial farms in seven different states in Nigeria.
The Minster said more than 140,000 birds have been exposed to the deadly virus, which was first noticed in Lagos and Kano before spreading into Ogun, Delta, Rivers, Edo and Plateau states.
“All the affected farms have been quarantined and decontaminated and there are other locations including Ikorodu, Ojo and Lagos Mainland where we are awaiting confirmation,” the Minister said.
He added that, “Nigeria has successfully controlled it in the past and would therefore, successfully control the bird flu outbreak this time.”
Nigeria was the first country on the African continent to detect bird flu in 2006, when chicken farms were found to have the H5N1 strain and in 2007, Nigeria reported its first human death from the disease.
In Hong Kong, the H5N1 bird flu first infected humans in 1997 and has since spread from Asia to Europe and Africa and has become entrenched in poultry in some countries causing infections and claiming several human lives.
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