Bird flu claims first human life in West Africa

Nigeria is among countries regarded by experts as the weakest links in the global attempt to stem infections of birds.

The virus has spread to 17 of Nigeria's 36 states over the past year despite measures such as culling, quarantine and bans on transporting live poultry.

World Health Organization spokesman Gregory Hartl said a human case of bird flu in Nigeria was to be expected because of the experience in other countries, such as Indonesia, with huge poultry populations where chickens and hens live in close proximity to humans.

"It does not change anything from a public health point of view," Hartl said. "It had to happen sooner or later."

In Japan, the Agriculture Ministry confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in the western prefecture of Okayama, the third in the country since the beginning of the year.

Another outbreak is suspected at a poultry farm in the southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki. There have been no reported cases of human infection from the virus in Japan.

More than 200 million birds have died from bird flu or have been killed to prevent its spread since 2003.

(Reporting by Tume Ahemba in Lagos, Muhamadd Al Azhari in Jakarta, Linda Sieg in Tokyo and Richard Waddington in Geneva)