Uganda’s government led by President Yoweri Museveni has confirmed the presence of a strain of bird flu in some areas on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Ceoafrica gathered that the virus has only been detected in migratory birds and in domestic ducks and chickens.

Authorities are raising awareness in local communities to make sure the disease does not spread to humans too.

The first reports of dead wild birds came in at the start of the New Year, in which local communities said they saw many dead bodies of migratory birds, which move to Uganda during winter in the northern hemisphere.

Subsequent tests confirmed they died from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza or bird flu, as it’s commonly known. Samples from ducks and a chicken in one district were positive too.

There have been no reported cases of the disease spreading to humans and the government says it is advising local communities on how to avoid any transmissions as emergency teams have also been dispatched to collect dead birds.

This is the first outbreak of bird flu in Uganda but the authorities have become adept at dealing with health emergencies following its management of diseases such as Ebola.