By Felicia Imohimi
The Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) has urged the Federal Government to institutionalise annual disease surveillance in order to curtail the spread of Avian influenza, also known as Bird Flu.
Dr Bala Muhammad, Chairman, FCT Chapter of the association, said this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja in view of the outbreak of avian influenza in parts of the country.
Muhammad suggested that such annual surveillance should be an avenue for the government to advice farmers to step up bio-security and other containment exercises to avoid losses.
The chairman, who identified avian influenza as a time bomb waiting to explode, said it was highly pathogenic and infectious disease of poultry with potential of public health consequences.
The organisms have enormous capability to infect birds and can mutate to affect humans, he said.
Muhammad, who further described bird flu as a zoonotic disease, emphasised that both government, farmers and other stakeholders should do everything humanly possible to eradicate it.
According to him, such concerted efforts will not only stem the huge economic losses but will as well avoid mutation and spread to man.
Muhammad decried that the outbreaks had become frequent simply because all stakeholders had lowered their guards.
The fragile poultry industry needs to be protected to guarantee its growth and contribution to the economy, he said.
The chairman noted that the only way to nip the outbreak in the bud was by active disease search, decontamination of affected farms, compensation of loses to encourage transparency and information sharing.
The moment there is an outbreak, we should not wait until the entire country is engulfed in the crisis.
We should try as much as possible to do some kind of ring assessment and activate the containment plan.
I appeal to government to call stakeholders meeting for review of the national containment plan, and the no vaccination policy.
Information is power, awareness campaigns on issues around outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian influenza will save the day.
Farmers are strongly advised to reinforce bio-security and other containment practices to avoid outbreaks and further transmission to man.
A stitch in time saves nine. Stakeholders must work with government officials to evolve an economically viable plan in stamping out avian influenza in Nigeria.
The industry needs to be protected to guarantee its growth and contribution to the economy.
Many have been gainfully employed by the sub-sector and it contributes greatly to the countrys GDP, he said.
The chairman appealed to government to encourage farmers to report any flu-like signs in their flock, birds and by taking compensation of affected farmers seriously.
Similarly, Mr Godwin Abonyi, the immediate past President of NVMA called on government to undertake massive intervention in the area of veterinary services.
According to him, through such efforts we will be able to curtail resurgence of Avian influenza.
Governments interventions should be massive because it is dangerous to have a flu that is zoonotic ravage the country in the face of COVID-19, he said.
NAN reports that as at March 24, seven states have been affected by the bird flu according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The states affected by the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) (H5N1) in poultry are Kano, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Niger. (NAN)
Source: NAN News