Niger has become the third African country with confirmed cases of bird flu.
An Italian laboratory testing poultry from the West African nation Monday confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 virus.
Nigeria and Egypt also reported bird flu cases this month.
Pakistani officials say chickens there have tested positive for the disease, the first cases reported since 2004. Early testing suggests a low pathogenic strain of the H5 virus.
Meanwhile, Japanese officials have detained two veterinarians for not reporting bird flu infections at farms east of Tokyo last year. More than two and a half million birds have been culled since Japan discovered the less-virulent H5N2 virus there.
Health experts fear the virus could mutate and begin infecting humans, possibly killing millions.
The disease has spread from Asia to some countries in Europe and Africa, killing some 90 people worldwide since late 2003.
