New Strain of Bird Flu Detected in Nigeria

United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO) has announced that it has discovered a new strain of Avian flu never reported in Africa in Nigeria.

THISDAY gathered that tests conducted by Nigeria and the FAO showed that the new virus strain, similar to strains identified last year in Italy, Afghanistan and Iran, is genetically distinct from other forms detected from the country's outbreaks in 2006 and 2007.

"It seems unlikely that wild birds have carried the strain to Africa, since the last migration of wild birds from Europe and Central Asia to Africa occurred in September 2007.