Michael's Mind

As late as Monday, Nigerian veterinary officials were assuring the nation that the disease was not in their country. But Juan Lubroth, a senior veterinarian at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, said there was strong evidence bird flu took root in Nigeria "a few months ago."

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Maria Cheng, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, said her agency suspected that there might be human cases of H5N1 flu in Africa but had no way to confirm that yet. "We're getting a team ready to go," she said, "but we're waiting to get the invitation from Nigeria."
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On Friday, a BBC News reporter visited one of the northern Nigeria farms where 20,000 birds had died. Although the Health Ministry had announced that the farms were quarantined and being disinfected, he reported that basic safety measures were being ignored. Carcasses were being burned in the open, letting infectious feathers and dander spread downwind. The farm workers doing the culling had no protective gear. Villagers were still entering the property to draw well water.