VOA News - Nigeria Battles New Bird Flu Strain
The Voice of America reports: "Animal health specialists warn a new strain of highly pathogenic bird flu in Nigeria - which has previously not been recorded in sub-Saharan Africa - increases the risk of avian influenza spreading to other countries in West Africa. [...] The World Health Organization says the H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 240 out of the nearly 400 people known to have been infected since 2003. The disease has also forced the slaughter of some 300 million birds, worldwide."

Comment: I added that last paragraph of the report to highlight the numbers. Many reports on bird flu have been alarmist, focused more on the potential of the disease to become a pandemic. It's worth emphasizing that so few people have died globally compared to other infectious diseases. Still, there's no denying the pandemic potential.