Bird flu spreads in Nigeria

AFRICA'S first outbreak of a deadly strain of bird flu has spread to at least four farms, Nigerian officials said, as the continent braced itself for a possible epidemic.

In Iraq, a World Health Organization team arrived in Iraqi Kurdistan's biggest city of Suleimaniya to probe the spread of bird flu as new suspected cases emerged in the country.

Nigerian agriculture ministry spokesman Tope Ajakaiye yesterday said tests on chicken carcasses had identified the H5N1 strain, which can kill humans, in northern Nigerian sites more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) apart.