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GENEVA - Laboratory tests have confirmed that a 22- year-old woman in Nigeria died from the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu last month, the World Health Organisation said Saturday.
"The initial positive test findings from a laboratory in Nigeria were confirmed by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on influenza in London," the WHO said in a statement on its website.
The WHO said samples from all contacts of the woman, who died in the Nigerian city of Lagos on January 17, had tested negative and did not show any sign of transmission of bird flu among humans.
"Further investigations are under way to identify the source of the infection," the statement said.
Sporadic cases of human infection with avian influenza are "not unexpected" in countries like Nigeria, where H5N1 outbreaks have been prevalent in poultry for about a year, according to the UN's health agency.
WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said there was no immediate sign that the death was more than an isolated human case, although concern about the situation in Africa's most populated nation was heightened.
"Given the extent of poultry infection in Nigeria... it was just a matter of time before we had a human infection. It's not a surprise," Hartl told AFP.
The WHO said it was working with Nigerian authorities to ensure intensive surveillance.
More reports of suspected cases in Nigeria are expected as people with flu-like symptoms seek medical advice.
Scientists fear that the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu may mutate into a form that becomes more easily transmissible from person to person, triggering a global pandemic that could kill millions.
"The virus in question is quite similar to what we've seen in the past, there was no sign of substantive mutation," Hartl said after the test results from the British reference laboratory were announced.
The 22-year-old woman died in the commercial capital Lagos after helping pluck and disembowel a chicken her family bought.
Her mother died on January 4 with similar symptoms but no samples were taken for testing, according to the WHO.
Observers have warned that Nigeria, Africa's most-populous nation and one of the most corrupt, would struggle to contain any major outbreak of bird flu in humans.
The WHO reiterated Saturday that human cases of H5N1 are frequently linked to the slaughter of infected birds at home, and the handling of the carcasses and meat before they are cooked.
"These practices represent the highest risk to human infection and are the most important to avoid," it warned.
"The federal government wishes to inform the general public that the result of the test of human case of avian influenza in Nigeria, conducted by Nigerian scientists using the upgraded laboratory facilities in Nigeria, has been validated by the World Health Organisation (WHO)," the Nigerian government said.
"The confirmatory test was conducted in London by WHO in line with international protocol applicable to public health issues of this nature. H5N1 is widespread and continuing in the poultry population in Nigeria.
"Currently, outbreaks in poultry have been reported in 49 local government areas, spread across 19 states and the federal Capital Territory."
- AFP /ls
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