The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday that bird flu is starting to spread again, and all the countries should be aware of the dangers this puts them in. According to the Sunday statement of Agriculture Minister Robert Donovan, the deadly virus threatens the African continent once more.

The West African state Benin reported cases of H5N1 virus on two poultry farms, one north of the capital (Porto Novo) and the other in Cotonou. This is not isolated, as all of Benin’s neighbors have announced bird flu cases as well. Early this year, the continent’s first death from H5N1 infection has been reported in sub-Saharan Africa.

Epidemiologists are already on full alert, as the African continent is well known for its poverty and poor life conditions, and for its numerous improvised farms, which could determine the virus to spread or suffer mutations without anyone noticing. Despite the fact it is mainly an animal disease experts are growing concern on the disaster a mutation would produce on the human population.

Benin’s particular case raises concern because of the voodoo ritual still practiced by priests, who use chickens in different ritual sacrifices. As a precautionary measure, thousands of birds have been slaughtered on a 3 miles radius and all the close farms have been disinfected.

Following the Asia epidemic, where cases of human infection with the H5N1 virus have been reported lately by countries like Myanmar, China or Indonesia, specialists fear that the number of human infections will grow, hence the areas should be properly monitored.

Health department representatives have not confirmed the human-to-human transmission, but they haven’t excluded the possibility either. Up until now, all the H5N1 infections that have occurred have not been linked through a possible human-to-human transmission, but rather through being exposed to the same infection conditions.

The World Health Organization is on high alert and is looking for methods to stop the uncontrolled spread of the virus. According to Peter Cordingley, spokesman for WHO Western Pacific, “the key to the public health response is surveillance. If we do actually get to cases with antivirals early on, the health outcome is a lot better.”