Avian influenza, first noticed in Nigeria's north on February 8, has spread to poultry farms in the southern part of the country, Minister of Information and National Orientation Frank Nweke said in Abuja Tuesday, according to DPA. Nweke, who is also chairman of the national committee on the prevention and management of bird flu, said an outbreak had been confirmed in Idemili in Anambra in the south-east, Otukpo in Benue in central Nigeria and in Port Harcourt in the Niger delta. He said the National Veterinary Research Institute in Vom near Jos in central Nigeria had conducted tests on samples from the areas and confirmed the findings. The culling of infected birds and the decontamination of the affected areas had started, while further diagnostic tests were being undertaken at a reference laboratory in Padua, Italy. Nweke reiterated that there was no reported case of bid flu in humans in Nigeria and stressed that restrictions on the movement of live poultry were still in force across the country. The bir-flu virus had earlier been confirmed in Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, Zamfara, Katsina states in Nigeria's north and in Nasarawa state and in the capital Abuja in the centre of the country.
