GENEVA, March 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Sample tests found no human cases of the highly pathogenic bird flu in Nigeria and Niger, World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Thursday.

    The WHO made the announcement as none of the 60 suspected bird flu patients in the two countries has tested positive for the deadly virus.

    In Nigeria, the first country in Africa to confirm the presence of bird flu virus on Feb. 8, the virus had so far spread to 11 of the 37 states in both the north and the south and some 450,000 poultry on more than 130 farms had been either dead or slaughtered, the WHO reported.

    The Nigerian government would provide compensation to the poultry farmers from this week.

    The virus has also been detected among hens in Niger on Feb. 27.

    Experts said the strain detected in Nigeria was nearly the same with those found in Iraq and Turkey, which has caused deaths among humans.

    Although no human cases of the virus have been confirmed in Africa so far, the WHO warned that the vulnerable African countries should be highly alert to the disease as it has killed 96 people worldwide. Enditem