As birds perish by the thousands in the northern Nigerian state of Kano, farmers and local officials say they are still waiting for the government to confirm whether they are dealing with an outbreak of the killer H5N1 bird flu virus.

"We are sad that until this hour nobody from the ministry of agriculture has shown up," said Awalu Haruna, secretary of the Kano State branch of the Poultry Association of Nigeria. "We are only doing what we can to stop the spread of this disease, believe me nobody has told us that it is bird flu."

As he spoke, three kilometres away at Savet Farms, a commercial poultry operation, workers on Friday were busy picking dead chickens out from live ones using their bare hands.

No protective clothing was used. The piles of dead carcasses were burned or buried. Live birds remained on the farm.

Nigeria this week reported Africa's first confirmed case of the H5NI strain of avian flu, which has killed millions of birds and has jumped to humans, infecting over 100 people. Handling sick birds is believed to be one way of catching the disease.

The deadly H5N1 strain was confirmed in the neighbouring northern state of Kaduna on Wednesday, where tens of thousands of fowl are reported dead.

In Kano on Friday, where more suspect poultry deaths have been reported, Agriculture Ministry official Salihu Jibrin could not confirm there was an outbreak of bird flu. "I cannot tell you anything yet, we are still awaiting test results," he said.

The National Veterinary Research Institute has confirmed bird flu cases in poultry in Kaduna, Kano and Plateau states.

Experts have warned that unless the virus is identified quickly and contained it could spread rapidly, and countries across West Africa this week moved to ban imports of live fowl and poultry products from Nigeria and tighten border controls.

In the neighbouring state of Kaduna, where 40,000 cases of bird flu were confirmed on the poultry farm of Sports Minister Alhaji Samaila Sambawa, authorities have begun culling fowl.

"We are shooting them to stop the spread of the virus, we are still working on the issue of compensation for the owners," said Dantani Tanimu who supervised an ostrich cull on the minister's farm.

But some farmers fear they will miss out on compensation as they are not registered with the poultry association. "I don't know how to approach authorities to get paid," worried Ado Ibrahim. "I lost nine hundred chickens I cannot quantify the number of eggs."

In an impoverished region where poultry-farming is an important source of income and poultry products and eggs are affordable, the issue of compensation is key to reducing the risk of farmers trying to hide or sell birds infected or exposed to the virus.

Donors in January promised Africa US$ 150 million to tackle bird flu at a special conference in China, and part of those funds were intended for compensation but none of the funds have arrived yet, according to pan-African body the African Union.

Haruna said the Nigerian government has promised poultry farmers compensation of 250 naira, the equivalent of US $1.90, for each chicken killed due to bird flu. But that was too little, he said.

"The 250 naira offered per chicken is grossly inadequate. We sell full-grown chickens for up to 1,000 naira. This is aside from the fact we make some money selling eggs," Haruna said.

An IRIN correspondent saw frozen chickens that usually sell for 700 or 1,000 naira being sold for 250 naira in Kano town. And at the Tarauni market, poultry vendors complained the few customers they had were offering rock bottom prices.

"We are selling poultry products but sales have been on the decline since this thing started. Those who come to buy ask for live birds for ridiculously low prices," said Ibrahim Mai-Kaji. "I usually sell between 20 to 25 birds daily, but in the last three days I have been unable to sell more than six."

But by the roadside in Kano, streetside food-stall owner Maimuna Garba isn't sure what all the fuss is about. He's simply noticed he's not selling as many chicken or egg dishes."There is less demand for poultry products such as fried eggs and chicken. I hear people talk about a strange disease killing off chickens."

One of his customers, however, Halima Usman, wasn't going to be put off his favourite dish: "I haven't heard anything about the flu," he said. "I love chicken and I have not stopped eating it."

"Maybe I will stop if it's true that the virus in town."