Standup9ja: FG alerts public on outbreak of birdflu in 7
states, FCT
The Federal Government on Friday alerted the public to the
outbreak of Avian Influenza or Birdflu in the FCT and seven states of the
country.
Dr Gideon Mshelbwala, the Director of Veterinary and Pest
Control Services, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development raised
the alert at a meeting with state Commissioners of Agriculture in Abuja on
Friday.
Mshelbwala listed the states affected by the outbreak to
include Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Nasarawa, Plateau, FCT and lastly
Kaduna, which reported a case in May 30.
He said that the disease had spread across 26 states of the
federation and the FCT since it started in 2008 affecting 800 farms in no fewer
than 123 local government areas.
Mshelbwala, who said that there were no scientifically
proven vaccines for birdflu, noted that the Federal Government was adopting
quarantine, movement control, stamping out, decontamination and bio-security
measures to curb the spread.
The director expressed regret over the poor bio-security
practices by some poultry farmers, adding that it was the major reason for the
continuous spread of the disease.
According to him, the Federal Government has paid over N674
million in compensations to 269 farmers across the affected states.
“Our national action plan encourages proper regulation of
the poultry industry and enforcement of annual registration of all actors along
the poultry value chain including farmers, traders, egg merchants and feed
millers.
“It also encourages the creation of veterinary extension
services to facilitate the control and proper inspection of poultry and poultry
products,’’ he said.
Mshelbwala said that the way forward to the containment of
the disease was to ban importation of poultry and products, quarantine and
bio-security measures, among others.
He, however, warned poultry farmers against illegal
vaccination of birds, saying that it was a deadly alternative to the control of
the disease.
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