Burkina Faso has detected the dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry on the outskirts of its capital Ouagadougou, making the West African country the fifth nation on the continent to report the disease.
Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Egypt have already confirmed the virus in Africa, a continent which a top UN official said on Tuesday needed more funding to cope with a disease which has killed more than 100 people worldwide.
Burkina Faso's Livestock Minister Tiemoko Konate said in a televised announcement late on Monday that the bird flu strain had been confirmed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in samples taken from poultry at a motel on the eastern outskirts of Ouagadougou.