A South African veterinary institute is to conduct tests on bird samples from Kenya, Malawi and Sudan as part of international efforts to help track the possible spread of bird flu.
”We have been asked by the Food and Agricultural Organisation and the African Union to be a support laboratory for the African continent,” said Celia Abolnik, senior researcher at Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute outside Pretoria.
”We will be testing samples collected for surveillance on the African continent,” she said, adding that officials were currently collecting samples in Kenya, Malawi and Sudan.
The samples should arrive in South Africa for testing in the next two weeks.
Africa is on high alert after the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which can be fatal to humans, was reported in Nigeria on Wednesday — the first to hit the continent.
The outbreak was discovered on a farm near Kaduna, 300km north of Abuja, prompting several countries to announce a ban on poultry imports from Nigeria.
Since the H5N1 strain of avian influenza first broke out in Hong Kong in 1997 it has spread through China, North Korea and southeast Asia and, in recent months, to Turkey and southeastern Europe.
While deadly to birds, the disease can also spread to humans and has been blamed for 88 deaths worldwide. There are also fears it could mutate and become transmissible between humans, triggering a deadly epidemic. – Sapa-AFP