Djibouti, Africa, confirms human case of bird fl

    Djibouti - Djibouti said on Thursday that one person had tested positive for the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus in the first confirmed human case in the Horn of Africa.

"One patient and three domestic chickens have been detected with the H5N1 virus," Health Minister Abdallah Abdillahi Miguil said in remarks broadcast on state television.

The United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva confirmed the human case.

"There is a two-year-old girl who has been infected with H5N1. She is alive," WHO spokesperson Dick Thompson said.

The tiny country of 300 000 at the mouth of the Red Sea is along the path of migratory birds who have been detected with the deadly strain.

The condition of the girl, who the minister said was still in hospital, was not immediately known.

The results were tested in conjunction with the WHO at a laboratory in Egypt, the minister said.

Miguil said that a team of scientists and doctors was meeting to plan how to contain an outbreak and find out more about how the girl contracted the disease.

"Investigations are to be made soon in the area where the patient is living and elsewhere," he said.

The country has also banned the importation of chickens from other nations, he said.

On the streets of the former French colony's capital, Djibouti, people were worried.

"Chicken is my preferred dish, but now it's the choice between life or death," street vendor Saada Ahmed said.