WHO assures Nigerian state of cooperation on bird flu control

The World Health Organization (WHO) has assured Nigeria's southwestern Ogun State of its cooperation to stop the spread of the avian influenza to human, official said on Saturday.

Oyin Sodipe, the WHO coordinator in Ogun State, said she promised to continue assisting relevant agencies in the state to forestall the outbreak of the virus in poultry products.

The WHO and the state government have trained one monitoring officer in each of the 20 local government areas of the state and 60 clinicians to report any suspected case of the virus, she said.

"The monitoring team has been trained to report what constitute the slightest symptoms of the Avian Influenza," She said, adding that "they are to monitor the situations in public places, especially in areas with concentration of birds."

According to her, health officials were sensitizing the public on the danger of the disease and offering dedicated phone numbers on officials to be contacted over any suspected case.

The Nigerian government last week announced the first human casualty of the H5N1 strain of the avian influenza in Lagos, which was later confirmed by the WHO.

Source: Xinhua