The government of Rivers state on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 said that the Avian Influenza Bird Flu had been reported in the state and had killed hundreds of fowls in a privately owned farm in Port Harcourt.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Emma Chinda, told newsmen during a press brief that the farm had been quarantined and decontaminated although no human being had been reported with the flu.
He said, “On Jan. 14, 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.
“The farm was immediately dispatched to the National Vetinary Institute in Plateau State for laboratory investigations. The farm was also subjected to quarantine by the same institute while owners of poultry farms around the farms were advised to set up bio-security measures.
“On the 17th of January, 2015 we got a confirmation from the National Institute that the bird died of suspected highly pathogenic avian influenza infection.
The commissioner assured that there was no cause for an alarm as the government was well equipped to handle the situation.
He said before the outbreak, they received information from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture on Avian Influenza in Kano and a bird market in Lagos.
“We were very much on alert and when it happened here, we handled the situation,’’ said the commissioner.
