BIRD FLU IN NIGERIA!

Chickens in northern Nigeria have been dying for a month. As the deadly strain of bird flu is confirmed on three more farms, the BBC's Alex Last visits a farmer in Kano State battling with diseased poultry. Some 20,000 birds died in just one week The farm stands in dry fields just outside Kano city. Inside its walls stand 11 concrete rectangular barns with corrugated roofs where the birds were kept. They are now empty save for feathers strewn on the floor.

The birds starting dying two weeks ago - 20,000 died in just one week - then the alarm was raised. The birds that survived were culled but their carcases are still being burnt in the open - black smoke coming off the smouldering pile of birds. The work of destroying the poultry is done by farm workers simply wearing their work overalls.

Nigerian poultry farmers have been losing livestock for weeks.The farm's owner, Abdullahi Saidu, said so far no-one had reported any illness. He said he was devastated by what had happened and said the government had yet to do anything to help. The farm is not sealed off - the villagers still come there to draw water from a well. Mr Saidu said other farms in the area had also suffered similar losses.

In the adjacent fields, two men with facemasks said they were burning 1,000 dead chickens that had died on a nearby farm. The four farms named so far may just be the start of the problems here.

BBC NEWS REPORT.