LAGOS: Bird flu has claimed its first human victim in Nigeria.

The victim was a young woman due to graduate from university and be married this year.

The death in Lagos, a teeming city where chickens and other poultry are kept in close quarters with humans, is concerning officials.

An outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu hit Nigeria last year, but no human infections had been reported until today.

Egypt and Djibouti had been the only African countries to confirm infections among people. Eleven people have died in Egypt.