Bird flu ravages farms in Lagos, Kano, Rivers

With recent reports of the outbreak of the H5 strain of the Avian Influenza virus in three states of Kano, Lagos and Rivers, poultry farmers all over the country are taking proactive measures to deal with the threat of the chicken disease.Our correspondents across parts of the country report that poultry farmers are already worried […]

With recent reports of the outbreak of the H5 strain of the Avian Influenza virus in three states of Kano, Lagos and Rivers, poultry farmers all over the country are taking proactive measures to deal with the threat of the chicken disease.
Our correspondents across parts of the country report that poultry farmers are already worried and taking measures to stem the tide of the ravaging disease.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said in a press statement that samples forwarded to the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Vom, near Jos in Plateau State tested positive for the H5 strain of the Avian Influenza virus and that confirmatory samples have been sent to the International Reference Laboratory in Padova, Italy for further characterisation.
Adesina stated that his ministry has commenced the quarantine of infected premises and restriction of movement of poultry and poultry products into and out of areas around the infected premises.
“State Directors of Veterinary Services and FCT, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) and other stakeholders have been informed and advised to be on alert with intensified bio-security measures to avert possible spread of the disease to other states,”  he said.
The federal government has also ordered the immediate reactivation of all animal health components of the Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP) on bird flu for Nigeria, adding that surveillance activities around infected areas would be conducted to determine the level of spread of the disease.
We have bird flu:
From Kano, Malam Garba Yunusa of the state Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that six cases were found in four local government areas of the state, listing the affected LGAs to include Kumbotso, Tofa, Gwale and Minjibir.
Dr. Muhammad Auwal Haruna, chairman, Kano State Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) stated that the association has held several meetings with authorities concerned in Lagos and Abuja on the issue adding that already, the association has embarked on a sensitisation programme to educate farmers on the symptoms to look out for and the first aid processes to apply in preventing spread before inviting experts.
In Lagos State, government has confirmed the outbreak of bird flu in the Badore-Ajah axis of the state.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperative, Mr Gbolahan Lawal, who addressed journalists on the scourge, said that the government had killed 2,000 affected birds in a poultry farm in Badore, Eti-Osa Local Government to prevent the disease from spreading.
Though he did not disclose the name of the affected poultry farm, the commissioner said the farm has been quarantined and that intensive surveillance had been mounted on all poultry farms in the state to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.
He enjoined residents not to panic over the situation as the government is in control.
Rivers is the third state so far to confirm that it has recorded bird flu infection among poultry farms in the state as the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Emma Chindah, said a farm in Port Harcourt tested positive to bird flu infection.
He said hundreds of the infected birds have since been destroyed while the affected farm has been quarantined and decontaminated, adding that no human being has been affected yet.
“On January 14th, we got a worrisome report from a farm. The report we got suggest that the farm may have been infected by highly pathogenic avian influenza.
“On the basis of that, we had to take necessary steps. Apart from quarantining the farm, we had to depopulate the birds in the farm to stop further spread. Thereafter, we decontaminated the farm. We are containing the situation because officials of government and experts are on ground monitoring the situation,” he said.
He said samples of the flu were taken to NVRI, Vom and when the result came out on January 17, it showed that the birds were infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza.     
It is a minor case:
President of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Dr. Ayoola Oduntan said the disease has not been reported in commercial farms as out of the 120 million estimated poultry in Nigeria, only 2,500 birds representing less than one percent have been affected.
He said though very few birds in small poultry farms are so far affected, the association has urged its members to take precautionary measures to guard against the spread of the disease.
But Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, has disclosed that a zoological park based in Victoria Garden City is being investigated following high mortality of wild birds.
According to the Lagos State officials, investigations revealed that the bird flu came into the state through birds brought into the state from the northern part of the country during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
The National Financial Secretary of PAN said the current outbreak of Avian Influenza virus, also known as bird flu, has been attributed to lack of professionals in the poultry industry.
Dr Lanre Jimoh, also linked the outbreak to inadequacies in the monitoring of live birds’ movements in poultry farms, adding, “the current outbreak is not peculiar to Nigeria alone, there has been a global resurgence of avian influenza virus and the outbreak in Nigeria could be attributed to unrestricted movements of live birds and poultry products and also because Nigeria has porous borders which are not properly manned.”
He noted that the Nigerian Quarantine Service and various agencies like the Federal Departments of Livestock and Animal Health may not have been strengthened enough, relaxed or lack adequate resources to be able to check the industry.
“The issue is that professionals are being relegated to the background in the field and particularly in poultry production as it relates to other areas of agriculture and animal husbandry,” he said.
More states likely to fall in:
Our correspondent in Katsina State reports that poultry farmers in the state are already on the alert as the state vice chairman of the Poultry Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Musa Danhassan, told our correspondent that the association has met and resolved to protect members’ farms against such incidents in the state.
According to him, they have barred visitations, excursions to poultry farms and that people buying eggs must not be allowed into farms but remain at a safe distance to avoid transmission.
He said the farmers were equally told to dispose dead chicken properly and carefully examine them to know the cause of death, noting that they encourage spraying of chemicals periodically to prevent infections.
Danhassan said farmers are also told to avoid buying matured and grown up chicken from outside the state, adding, “we are also aware that apart from Lagos and Kano states, Jigawa State is also said to have reported similar case.”
Strange death of birds:
In Kebbi State, a female poultry farmer, Amina Abdullahi Gele, said she lost 140 out of her 150 birds at Bayan NEPA, in Birnin Kebbi the state capital to a strange disease.
“They started developing symptoms of cough, rashes from their beaks and eyes and then they die in about three days after. I administered many antibiotics and multi-vitamins but to no avail,” she said.
Gele said the current high mortality rate has completely discouraged her after an investment of over N100,000 that yielded only N10,000.
“Even my local chickens and turkey are infected. The only surviving and oldest turkey took ill with same symptoms, and I have taken it to a veterinary clinic. I am not sure if it will survive. The veterinary doctors said it might be some other chicken disease and not bird flu, even though no post mortem was conducted,” she stated.
Aliyu Sa’ad, Manager of Adamu Aliero Poultry Farm said they did not experience any case of bird flu in their farm, adding, “of the 70,000 birds of various categories and at different stages of growth that we have, we do not have any single mortality experience since the news of bird flu broke out in some states,” he said.
Mustapha Yahaya Jega, a poultry and livestock farmer with his farms in Jega and Minna in Niger State said there is no sign of bird flu infection in any of his farms.
Kebbi State Director of Livestock, Dr. Bala Kakale said so far the state does not have any case of bird flu.
Ours are not infected:
Osun State chairman of PAN, Chief Oluyemi Olukiran told Daily Trust that people should not panic over the disease as there is no sign of it in the state. “Our farmers are advised to immunise their birds properly, the farm attendants and visitors should make use of disinfectants, access to the birds by visitors should be controlled and also exchange of farm implements should be avoided,” he said.
In Benue, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Donald Gbugho, said his ministry is currently keeping vigil against any outbreak of bird flu in the state.
Two poultry farmers in the state, Alfred Oche and Tser Terhumba, also said though there is no report of any infection in the state, they are taking precautionary measures.
From Imo State, our correspondent reports that the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has made necessary arrangement to guard against bird flu disease in the state.
PAN chairman in the state, Hon Chibuzo Ogoke told Daily Trust in Owerri that the association has already fixed a meeting of all members where they would extensively deliberate on how to tackle the disease to avoid its outbreak in the state.
In Abuja, Dr. Karnak Dandam, a veterinary doctor with the FCT Department of Agriculture, told our reporter that the secretariat was proactive and fully prepared to tackle the deadly avian influenza virus should it spread to the territory, adding that the secretariat is creating awareness amongst poultry farmers and other stakeholders in the FCT.
“We are proactive and very ready to tackle the deadly disease. We have told the farmers and the general public to be careful and maintain high level of sanitation among others,” Dr. Dandam noted.
Kwara State Chapter of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), has taken measures to prevent the outbreak of the disease in the state.
Speaking with our correspondent, the PAN chairman in the state, Alhaji Sherrif Atolagbe, who confirmed that the state has not recorded any outbreak so far, noted that poultry farmers in the state are working tirelessly to prevent outbreak of the disease.
He said: “So far we don’t have any outbreak. What we are doing is to do bio-security. We use disinfectant and we are also encouraging all members to make sure they use the disinfectant three times in a week.”
Atolagbe added that the PAN officials would meet formally with the state Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources to propel them towards taking proactive measures against the outbreak of the disease.
Kano govt sets up committee
Kano State Government has set up a committee to checkmate the outbreak of bird flu in some parts of the state.
This is contained in a statement issued by Public Relations Officer, state’s Ministry of Agriculture, Malam Garba Yunusa in Kano on Saturday. It said the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Yusuf Gawuna, had confirmed the outbreak of the bird flu in four local government areas of the state.
“Gawuna said the state government was concerned about the cases hence the setting up of the committee.
“The flu had been reported in Gwale, Minjibir, Kumbotso and Tofa local government areas and had been depopulated”, according to the statement.
The statement said the commissioner enjoined the public to report any sign of the disease to either the committee or any of the veterinary clinics in the state for immediate action.
NAN recalls that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources had confirmed the outbreak of bird flu in Kano and Lagos states on Thursday.