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H5N1 Confirmed in Nigeria
Recombinomics Commentary
February 8, 2006
H5N1 avian influenza has occurred among poultry in northern Nigeria, marking the first time the disease has been detected in Africa, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said here Wednesday.
The outbreak, reported to the OIE by the Nigerian authorities, occurred on a commercial chicken farm in the village of Jaji, Kaduna state, the agency said in a press statement.
"The OIE/FAO [Food and Agricultural Organisation] reference laboratory for Avian Influenza in Padova, Italy, has characterized the isolate as a highly pathogenic H5N1," it said.
The above comments raise serious questions about the lack of H5N1 reports from Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. The above confirmation was predicted by wild bird migration routes connecting Siberia to Europe, the MIddle East, and Africa.
Although H5N1 has been reported in in Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Ukraine Bulgaria, Cyrpus, and Iraq, the failure of neighboring countries to report H5N1 is cause for concern.
As H5N1 migrates into new areas it will recombine to form new sequences and new problems as was seen for HA S227N.
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