An outbreak of H5N1 virus responsible for bird flu in Nigeria has spread to 21 commercial farms in seven different states, with more than 140,000 birds having been exposed to the virus, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, said on 22 January.

According to This Day Live, the authorities said the deadly virus had arrived in Lagos in the South-west, and Kano in the North, last week.

Mr Adesina said it had now spread to five other states across the country: Ogun, Delta, Rivers, Edo and Plateau.

Around 100,000 of the birds exposed were in Kano, he added.

“All the farms have been quarantined and decontaminated. Other locations in Ikorodu, Ojo and Lagos Mainland have already been quarantined, while awaiting confirmation.”

“Nigeria will successfully control the bird flu outbreak. We have successfully controlled it in the past,” he added.

Africa’s most populous country and biggest economy was the continent’s first country to detect bird flu in 2006, when chicken farms were found to have the H5N1 strain.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State chapter of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has urged farmers not to panic over the spread of the Avian Influenza virus in some parts of the country.

The General Secretary of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) in Lagos state, Olugbenga Ogunsetan, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that two live bird markets - at Onipanu and Bariga - have been fumigated following detection of virus strain there.