Rurveillance required as bird flu destroys farms

Ghana, United States of America (USA), England and Finland are the countries recently hit by the deadly poultry disease while Northern Ireland and Wales are watching the situation in the UK closely.Their governments have been putting in place strategic surveillance machinery to prevent further spread while poultry farmers have been urged to look out for […]

Ghana, United States of America (USA), England and Finland are the countries recently hit by the deadly poultry disease while Northern Ireland and Wales are watching the situation in the UK closely.
Their governments have been putting in place strategic surveillance machinery to prevent further spread while poultry farmers have been urged to look out for signs of the disease in their birds.
In Ghana, our sister country in the West African sub-region, the Ministry of Agriculture expressed concern that the new outbreaks could worsen if farmers refuse to adhere strictly to government’s ban on the movement of flocks in the country.
Ghanaian Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Hannah Bissiw, speaking on Joy TV News,he appealed to poultry dealers to obey the directive strictly, adding that “the droppings of the affected birds carry the active virus, so we don’t want people moving around with their birds.”
In the UK, officials have confirmed outbreak of H7N7 avian influenza in Lancashire.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said that it has imposed temporary control of 10 kilometre surveillance zone and an inner 3- kilometre protection zone in the affected areas.
Lancashire is said to have 170,000 egg-laying birds in farms and free range layers. Authorities began the humane culling of all birds at the farm as restrictions remain in place.
“The restrictions mean that all poultry farms within the 10 kilometre control zone around the infected premises are not allowed to move poultry, captive birds or other mammals except under licence.
“The H7N7 virus is not the type of avian flu that caused the recent outbreaks in the US, which was the H5N2 variant of the disease. However, a case of low severity H7N7 avian influenza was found in Hampshire in February 2015,” reports Poultry Site Today.
In Wales, UK, poultry owners have been told to watch out for signs of avian influenza following the outbreak in England.
Rebecca Evans, the Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, stated that they have been working closely with DEFRA and the Animal and Plant Health Agency on the contingency planning arrangements.
Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales, Christianne Glossop, advised poultry owners “to look out for any signs of the disease. These include respiratory distress, diarrhoea, fewer eggs being laid, loss of appetite and blue discolouration of neck and throat.
“As always, all poultry keepers should continue their efforts to maintain high levels of biosecurity and monitor their birds for any signs of disease. Avian influenza is a noticeable disease, and so any suspicion should be reported immediately.”
In another development, Northern Ireland’s minister of agriculture, Michelle O’Neill, has urged poultry farmers to be vigilant following news of an outbreak of bird flu in the UK.
Ms O’Neill was speaking after the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in England established a protection and surveillance zone around an egg production area.
“Since they became aware of the early indications of the disease in Lancashire, my staff have been in direct contact with key poultry industry representatives and stakeholders in the north of Ireland to advise them of the situation and to call for increased vigilance.
Minnesota, United States has confirmed a second case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a wild bird, according to the state’s Department for Natural Resources (DNR). Over 20 million birds have died in the last one month across the US.
Finland recorded more outbreaks of Mycoplasma gallisepticum in backyard poultry in the last few days. There were 15 outbreaks, causing 156 cases out of a total susceptible population of 568 birds.
Dr. Juan Lubroth, chief veterinarian of the Rome-based FAO in an interview with Daily Trust in Abuja recently, advised poultry farmers in Nigeria to use bio-security to prevent the disease from attacking their birds.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Architect Sonny Echono, said the ministry has in the last two weeks paid N310 million to poultry farms that were destroyed by the disease in Plateau, Kano and Bauchi states, adding that the whole process of compensation will soon be completed.