Africa is ill equipped to fight a bird flu epidemic

The emergence of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in several countries in Europe and Africa last week has led the World Health Organization to issue a warning. It said: “H5N1 is spreading rapidly across the world. All countries must take measures to protect human health against avian flu, and prepare for a pandemic.”

H5N1 has now been identified in migratory swans in Italy, Greece, and Slovenia, but it is the arrival of the virus in …