Dr Gideon
Mshelbwala, the Director of Veterinary and Pest Control Services, Federal
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development raised the alarm at a meeting
with state Commissioners of Agriculture in Abuja on Friday.
Mshelbwala
listed the states affected as Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Nasarawa, Plateau,
FCT and Kaduna, which reported a case in May 30.
He said that
the disease had spread across 26 states of the federation and the FCT since it
started in 2008 affecting 800 farms in no fewer than 123 local government
areas.
Mshelbwala,
who said that there were no scientifically proven vaccines for birdflu, noted
that the Federal Government was adopting quarantine, movement control, stamping
out, decontamination and bio-security measures to curb the spread.
The director
expressed regret over the poor bio-security practices by some poultry farmers,
adding that it was the major reason for the continuous spread of the disease.
According to
him, the Federal Government has paid over N674 million in compensations to 269
farmers across the affected states.
“Our
national action plan encourages proper regulation of the poultry industry and
enforcement of annual registration of all actors along the poultry value chain
including farmers, traders, egg merchants and feed millers.
“It also
encourages the creation of veterinary extension services to facilitate the
control and proper inspection of poultry and poultry products,’’ he said.
Mshelbwala
said that the way forward to the containment of the disease was to ban
importation of poultry and products, quarantine and bio-security measures,
among others.
He, however,
warned poultry farmers against illegal vaccination of birds, saying that it was
a deadly alternative to the control of the disease.
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