A chicken vendor sit in front of his almost empty stand at the Treicheville market, in Abidjan, on May 4.

DJIBOUTI, May 11, 2006 – The tiny Red Sea state of Djibouti reported east Africa’s first human case of the deadly H5N1 deadly bird flu strain and said some chickens were also infected.

The health ministry said that virology tests from samples of an infected person taken last month were positive for the virulent strain of the flu virus, which had also affected three domestic fowl.

“Tests from a person suffering from flu-like symptoms on April 27 were positive for the disease,” it said. “Three domestic hens were also affected by the virus.”

The ministry said the tests were carried out with the collaboration of the World Health Organisation at a laboratory in Cairo.

Djibouti is the first country in east Africa to report the appearance of the H5N1 virus in either birds or humans and the eighth on the African continent to find the strain in birds.

Egypt is the only other country in Africa where people have been infected by the disease, of whom five have died.

Source: AFP