PARIS, Feb. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) confirmed Wednesday the H5N1 outbreak among poultry in northern Nigeria that had killed 40,000 birds.

    "It is a worrying development, as we had been afraid that the (African) continent could be affected. It means that the disease has got a foothold on the continent," said OIE deputy director general Jean-Luc Angot, adding that Africa is short of veterinary infrastructure of surveillance, detection and control.

    The outbreak occurred on a large commercial battery-chicken farm in Jaji, in Kaduna state, where 40,000 out of 46,000 hens, geese and ostriches had died, the world veterinary watchdog said.

    "The OIE/FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) reference laboratory for avian influenza in Padova, Italy, has characterized the isolate as a highly pathogenic H5N1," it said.

    "A team of experts will be sent to the affected area in order to assess the situation and provide technical advice to the national authorities," it added.

    According to Angot, it is more worrying that if the virus affects small farms, where people would not declare the outbreak and even eat the affected bird for fear of income damage.

    Another big worry for Europe is that the migrant birds now in Africa will return to Europe in Spring and the risks of contamination between birds are high and will last for a long timeif the virus develops in Africa.

    The H5N1 bird flu virus erupted in Hong Kong in 1997, where it killed six people.

    According to the latest official toll compiled by the World Health Organization, there have been 165 recorded human cases of H5N1 infection, 88 of them mortal.

    The virus is highly dangerous for chickens, ducks and geese, but is not known to be transmissible from human to human. Enditem