Nigeria is to donate 500 protective gears to Niger and train the country's health workers as part of its assistance to the northern neighbor to fight the outbreak of bird flu epidemic, Agriculture Minister Alhaji Adamu Bello told reporters on Thursday.

Niger was the second country in sub-Saharan Africa with confirmed cases of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus after Nigeria. It had appealed for international help to control the outbreak.

Bello told a news conference in Abuja that Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo was very worried of the situation in Niger and instructed that adequate assistance be sent immediately to the country.

He said the 500 set of protective gears would consist of overall coats, boots, gloves, face masks, sanitary towels, and chemicals for decontamination of the affected poultry farms.

According to the minister, Nigeria would also assist in training their health workers and restore confidence in the consumption of poultry products into the populace.

Nigerian Ambassador to Nigeria, Moussa Elhaji Ibrahim commended the prompt response of Obasanjo to the issue, saying that this should be a challenge to other developed nations and donor agencies.

The outbreak of bird flu in Niger was announced earlier this week by World Organization for Animal health after a clinical confirmation in Rome.

Source: Xinhua