France began vaccinating more than 300,000 geese and ducks against avian flu on Monday while Niger became the second West African country to be hit by a virus that is spreading among birds at unprecedented speed.

Tests on domestic ducks from Niger have shown positive results for the H5N1 bird flu virus, the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) said. Neighboring Nigeria has already been hit by bird flu in poultry.

The Black Sea state of Georgia said it had found the H5N1 strain in wild swans as the virus, which is endemic in birds in parts of Asia, extends its sweep across the globe.

As many as 18 new countries have reported outbreaks in birds over the past month.

Ilaria Capua, a top European expert on avian influenza with the OIE, said the spread of the virus to the wild bird population has meant the situation in Europe was now akin “to living under machine-gun fire”.

“And the spring migration from Africa will make us even more exposed,” she said.

“This is the first time in history that it (bird flu) has been widespread in wild birds,” she added.

The virus has killed more than 90 people in Asia and the Middle East since late 2003. It remains essentially an animal disease which humans contract only through close contact with infected birds.

However, there are fears the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic in which millions could die.

FRANCE TRADE FEARS

France started the vaccination campaign in the department of the Landes, in the southwest of the country, one of the areas deemed to be at risk from the spread of the virus by migratory birds.

France is Europe’s biggest poultry producer and has a confirmed case of H5N1 bird flu at a turkey farm in the east, the first farm in the European Union to contract the virus.

The bird flu outbreak could deal a heavy blow to France’s poultry industry, worth six billion euros ($7 billion) per year.

However, opinion is divided over whether vaccination helps to support trade or makes the situation more difficult, with some markets shunning meat from countries with vaccination programmes.

Japan has banned poultry imports from France due to the bird flu outbreak and has threatened similar action against the Netherlands because of its vaccination programmed.

The Netherlands also has plans to vaccinate some of its backyard and free-range poultry.

Under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the World Trade Organization’s basic rule book, it is left open for any member country to impose restriction on imports from others that it fears could spread disease among humans or animals.

Britain has criticized the use of vaccines in poultry, saying they could mask the effects of the disease and make it more difficult to tackle its spread among flocks.

Experts fear the virus could spread rapidly in Africa where chickens live in millions of homes and health, veterinary and laboratory services are often poor.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has reported bird flu in six states.

Niger, one of the poorest countries on earth, shares a 1,500 km (900 mile) border with Nigeria.

An OIE spokeswoman said there were two outbreaks, one of which was close to the border with Nigeria.

“We’ve been officially informed that the presence of the virus has been notified on the sample from Niger but we are waiting for official documents to know…what type of strain it is.” Niger’s government spokesman Mohamed Ben Omar said.