Jos — The Plateau State government says the state has not recorded any case of human death due to the avian influenza known as bird flu, but that thousands of birds were lost as a result of the outbreak of the flu in the state in 2006. The state government confirmed that over N49 million had been paid to the 33 poultry farmers whose birds were destroyed in the state when the outbreak was noticed.

The state Commissioner for Information Gregory Yenlong stated this while receiving the avian influenza communication component team to the state yesterday.

He said the avian influenza communication component would tour some selected markets in the state to educate the people on the dangers of the flu and ways of controlling it. Plateau he said is one of the 25 states in which an outbreak was reported in 2006, with cases in Jos North and Jos South local governments of the state. The commissioner added that the state government took measures which helped in controlling the spread of the disease and urged the people of the state to comply with measures which has made control possible. The national communication component coordinator, Olabanji Akeredolu, confirmed at the briefing that the spread of the flu had been contained in Nigeria, saying only one case of human death had been recorded in Nigeria as a result of the flu.