Bird Flu Hits Togo, Ghana

The West African nation of Togo has reported an outbreak of the H5N1 virus on a poultry farm. This is the first confirmed outbreak of the deadly virus in Togo :

Several thousand poultry birds have been found dead in Togo recently, most of them in the past week on the one farm in Sigbehoue, 45 kilometres (30 miles) east of the capital Lome.

The agriculture ministry said on Thursday that measures had been taken to try and contain the possible spread of the virus, notably the slaughtering and disposal of infected poultry.

Before Friday, no cases of H5N1 bird flu had been officially discovered in Togo, which since October last year had banned the import of live poultry and poultry products from countries affected by the virus.

Ghana, a neighbour of Togo, reportedly recorded its third H5N1 outbreak last week, in a town close to the Togo border.