Briefs: Bird flu spread into Burkina Faso

April 4, 2006

Burkina Faso has become the fifth African nation to confirm an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, reported at a farm near Ouagadougou.

The nation's minister for animal resources, Tiemoko Konate, told the BBC 65 samples from different regions had been sent to Italy for analysis.

The other African nations reporting the presence of avian flu are Cameroon, Egypt, Niger and Nigeria. The virus has also spread across Europe and parts of Asia, killing about 100 people worldwide since its reemergence in 2003, the BBC said.

Scientists fear the virus could mutate to spread between humans, triggering a global pandemic.

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