Senegal has reported an epidemic of the highly deadly H5N1 bird flu on a chicken farm in the country’s northern region, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).
The epidemic happened on March 18 on a field near the town of Louga in the hamlet of Potou, not far from the Langue de Barbarie National Park, where an H5N1 breakout was identified on March 12, according to the Paris-based WOAH, quoting Senegalese officials.
“An epidemiological link between both outbreaks is highly likely,” it said.
The epidemic killed 500 of the flock’s 11,400 birds, and the surviving animals were slaughtered, according to the WOAH.
Avian influenza, also known as “bird flu,” has expanded around the globe in the last year, murdering over 200 million birds, driving up egg costs, and increasing concerns among countries about human transmission.
