An epidemic has killed 60 000 chickens in northern Nigeria, officials said on Monday, while attempting to calm fears that the deadly bird-flu virus had spread to the country.
Salihu Jibrin, director of veterinary services in Kano state’s agriculture ministry, said initial evidence suggests that the devastating outbreak was fowl cholera, a bacterial infection, rather than influenza.
”We have so far recorded the death of 60 000 chickens in this epidemic and, from preliminary results of laboratory tests conducted on samples of the dead birds, the presence of fowl-cholera bacteria,” Jibrin said.
”Further tests are being conducted at the National Veterinary Research Institute in Vom and Ahmadu Bello University Veterinary Teaching hospital in Zaria for comprehensive laboratory diagnosis,” he added.
The sudden death of so many chickens, coming at a time when the world is nervously monitoring the spread of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which can prove deadly to humans, has caused concern in northern Nigeria.
Officials have broadcast television and radio messages to try to calm such fears and place the blame on bird cholera, a disease that causes birds to die from fatigue and dehydration as they lose control of their bowels.
Shehu Bawa, the head of a team set up to monitor the disease, said that until the test results are back, a virus such as Newcastle disease, which has similar symptoms to cholera, cannot be ruled out. — Sapa-AFP