- Laboratory tests in Togo have revealed a fresh outbreak of virulent H5N1 bird flu in western Africa state, government sources have said. A strain was detected after around 4,000 poultry died at a farm in Agbata outside capital, Lome.
"The results from Ghana confirm presence of the strain of the H5N1 virus that is responsible for bird flu," Agriculture and Livestock Minister Kossi Messan Ewovor said in a statement.
After outbreak, Togo, which reported several cases of H5N1 last year, has imposed a quarantine on the village.
It is reported in Togo that lab tests were carried out by experts in Ghana and Italy after a deadly outbreak was discovered last week.
Health Ministry said precautionary measures have been taken to contain the situation, without confirming magnitude of the strain in Togo.
The virus which is said to rarely infect people has killed 243 out of 385 known to have been infected since 2003, according to World Health Organisation, while it has also killed or forced slaughter of 300 million birds.
In August, Ghana called for urgent meeting with its West African neighbours to control avian flu amid reports of an outbreak of bird flu strain in some parts of Nigeria's remote provinces.
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation said strain of avian influenza recently found in Nigeria was genetically different from strains in previous African outbreaks in Nigeria in 2006 and 2007, though it could not confirm if it was H5N1 flu.
However, disease remains hard for humans to catch, with most cases linked to contact with infected birds. But scientists worry virus could mutate as a result of the continent's widespread poverty, lack of proper veterinary and medical facilities and huge unregulated farming sector, which could allow outbreaks to go unnoticed longer.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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