Deadly H5N1 bird flu spread in Nigeria on Monday and authorities trying to prevent any human infections said it was proving difficult to persuade people not to eat dead poultry as they were too poor to throw it away.
In the European Union, where H5N1 was confirmed in wild birds for the first time at the weekend, Greece was testing one man for possible bird flu and other countries reported a sharp fall in poultry sales as a result of the arrival of the virus.
At present, humans can only contract the virus through close contact with an infected animal. The Greek man undergoing tests is a hunter who killed three wild ducks a week ago.
Most Nigerians are unaware of bird flu and many have been handling sick and dead birds, heightening the risk of infection. But officials are finding it difficult to persuade them to change their habits.
“I have been in the field and they say ‘What are you telling us? We eat dead chickens and we have been doing that for centuries,’” said Abdulsalam Nasidi, who is in charge of efforts to prevent bird flu from spreading to humans in Nigeria.
There have been no human cases of bird flu so far in Nigeria, but the virus has killed at least 91 people in Asia and the Middle East according to updated figures from the World Health Organization.
As well as the four confirmed cases of H5N1 in birds in three Nigerian states, authorities said there were now suspected outbreaks of bird flu in five other states, some of them hundreds of miles from where the original cases were detected.
Experts fear H5N1 may mutate into a form that can spread between people and cause a pandemic that could kill millions, and health officials are implementing measures such as bird culling and testing to try to stop the spread of the virus.
Hong Kong bans backyard fowl
Government workers searched rural areas of Hong Kong, bringing tears of despair to bird owners as they enforced a ban on backyard fowl to try to stop bird flu taking hold in one of the world’s most densely populated cities.
“Whoever says we cannot rear chickens should be damned,” sobbed Lau Sau-foong, who said she fainted twice from despair.
“I have treated those geese and chickens like my own children. After I wake up each morning I will feed them. Tell me, aren’t they torturing me mentally?”
The arrival of bird flu in the European Union prompted governments across the region to bolster their defenses against the virus, while farmers braced for a plunge in poultry consumption.
Greek industry officials said sales had plunged 95 percent since Saturday and an Italian farmers’ group reported a drop of more than 50 percent. The poultry and egg industry in the EU is estimated to be worth $23.8 billion.
German authorities said they might bring forward a ban on keeping poultry outside, Spain was reviewing its controls and Bulgaria cordoned off wetlands where infected birds had been found.
The Greek Health Ministry said one man was in quarantine pending results of tests for possible bird flu. A 15-year-old boy had also been tested after developing flu-like symptoms, but the results were negative.
Russia and Bulgaria, which have already had confirmed outbreaks, reported new cases of bird flu, while Romania said it had found more suspected cases.