The Federal Govern-ment has issued an alert stating that there may be the possiblity of an outbreak of avian influenza in the country following the detection of the deadly virus in two poultry farms in Lagos and Kano.
This was contained in a statement by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akin-wumi Adesina, which in-dicated that unusual high mortality of birds has been reported in two poultry farms and live bird markets in Kano and Lagos States.
He said: "The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) wishes to notify the general public that un-usual high mortality has been reported in two poultry farms and live bird markets in Kano and Lagos States.
"Samples forwarded to the National Veteri-nary Research Institute (NVRI), Vom tested posi-tive for H5 Strain of Avian Influenza virus and con-firmatory samples have been sent to the Interna-tional Reference Labora-tory in Padova, Italy for further characterisation."
According to the Minister measures have been taken to arrest the situation. "The Ministry has taken the fol-lowing measures in the affected sites to contain the reported outbreaks.
"Quarantine of in-fected premises and re-striction of movement of poultry and poultry prod-ucts into and out of areas around infected premises.
"All State Directors of Veterinary services and FCT, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) and other stakeholders have been in-formed and advised to be on alert with intensified bio-security measures to avert possible spread of the disease to other states.
"The World Organisation For Animal Health (OIE) and Inter African Bureau For Animal Resource (AU-IBAR) and Development Partners have been appro-priately notified in compli-ance with our statutory international obligations
" Immediate reactiva-tion of all Animal Health component of the Emer-gency Preparedness Plan (EPP) on Bird flu for Nigeria. (Daily Times)
Source: Bird flu in Lagos, Kano - eReporter
