Bird Flu Spreads to Third Location in Ivory Coast

에마뉘엘 마크롱 프랑스 대통령이 상&middot;하원 합동 국정연설을 위해 파리 외곽 베르사유 궁에 들어서고 있다. 프랑스에서 대통령이 상하원을 소집하는 것은 이례적인 일로, 이날 마크롱 대통령은 대선 공약이었던 의회 정원 감축 등 의제를 정식으로 제기했다.<br /> &nbsp;

Ivory Coast said Friday that H5N1 bird flu had spread to a third location in the country, in the latest in a series of outbreaks in West Africa.

The case was discovered on a farm in the village of Modeste, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) east of the commercial capital, Abidjan.

Farm owner Moussa Dicko said he had lost 27,000 chickens in the outbreak, including about 7,000 slaughtered by veterinary agents.

The H5N1 strain of the virus can be transmitted to humans, though such cases are rare.

Jonas Oulai, vice director of animal health at the Ministry of Animals and Fisheries, told journalists that there was cause for concern about the spread of the virus, which struck in Ivory Coast in April.

"We had thought we were able to contain the virus in Bouake [a central town], but we are being overwhelmed," he said.

Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger and Ghana have been hit with the same virus over the last six months.