Rivers Government confirms outbreak of bird flu

The Government of Rivers State has confirmed an outbreak of the avian influenza, aka bird flu, in the state.

The discovery of the disease was announced on Tuesday, January 20, by the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Emma Chinda.

The commissioner stated that blood samples from infected birds had been taken to the Veterinary Research Institute in Plateau State after preliminary testing confirmed the presence of bird flu.

“On January 14, (2015), we got a report from a farm that was worrisome. The report we got suggested that the farm may have been infected by the highly pathogenic avian influenza,” Chinda said.

“Unfortunately, the result came out on January 17 (2015) and it read positive of highly pathogenic avian influenza. On the basis of that, we had to take necessary steps. Apart from quarantining the farm, we had to depopulate (eliminate) the birds in the farm to stop further spread. Thereafter, we decontaminated the farm,” he added.

Chinda also added that the infection was discovered on a farm in Port Harcourt and that the facility had been quarantined and decontaminated while the affected birds were killed.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has also confirmed cases of the disease in Lagos and Kano.