Avian flu detected in Cameroon

The lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in Cameroon, making it the fourth African country to be hit by the virus. A government statement says it had been detected in duck on a farm near the northern town of Maroua, on the border with Nigeria. H5NI has already been detected in poultry in Nigeria itself, Niger and Egypt. Cameroon banned all imports of Nigerian poultry last month. No human cases of the H5N1 strain have yet been found in Africa. But the United Nations has warned of a possible regional disaster if the disease continues to spread.