Abuja – The Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN) has advised poultry farmers to apply the principle of bio security to duck the resurgence of bird flu in the country.
The Registrar of the council, Dr Marcus Avon, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He attributed the cause of the disease to migratory wild birds and to conducive environment for low pathogenic avian influenza to become high hence very dangerous.
According to him, bio security will not only keep bird flu out of their farms but will also keep other transmittable diseases out of the farms.
He explained that bio security is a simple measure likely to be abandoned by farmers when the going is well.
He said bio security demands that clustering of poultry farms must be avoided as disease could easily be transmitted and that farms should be rat-proof as they could be carriers of diseases.
The registrar said human and vehicular traffic in and out of the farm must be highly regulated.
Avon stressed that food deep must be used for disinfection, advising that buyers of poultry products should not enter the farm.
According to him, bio security measure demands that farmers use plastic egg creates as it can easily disinfected after use making it safe for reuse.
He said open feeds and water bodies, growing of crops and other birds should be avoided on the poultry farms as this attracts wild animals which could transmit diseases.
He said patronage of toll feed miller should be discourage, saying that if it must be used, bags used caring the feeds should be disinfected by both the miller and farmer.
Avon urged the Federal Government to ensure proper public enlightenment, active surveillance, equipped testing laboratories and capacity building for workers.
He said government should also set up robust agric insurance policy that would cover all livestock diseases as the current insurance does not cover enough viral diseases.
The registrar said as a means for government to avoid paying compensations, farmers should be enlightened to subscribe to agric insurance.
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He noted that there must be transparency in the policy, saying that there should be no hidden charges and farmers should be paid promptly in case of eventuality.
He said the insurance companies and banks that would be involved in giving farmers money should also keep watch on the activities of the farmers.
In a separate interview, the President, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Dr Ayola Oduntan, said that the exercise to expel bird flu would continue after the disease has been extradited.
He said farmers were cooperating and more members had imbibed the principle of bio security which is the best method of keeping diseases out of poultry farms.
“Bird flu extradition is a continuous exercise; the orientation on bio security is ongoing, it will not stop even it has been cleared off.
“More farmers are imbibing the principles of bio security; however, more can be done,’’ he said.
NAN recalls that bird flu first broke out in Nigeria in 1996 and in January 2015; the then Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, confirmed the outbreak of bird flu in 11 states.
Adesina listed the states as Kano, Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Delta, Edo, Plateau, Gombe, Imo, Oyo and Jigawa states. (NAN)
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