President of the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association, Michael Nyarko Ampem has said that the outbreak of the bird flu in Ghana is not as scary as it may seem.
According to him, the news of the flu is a measure to ensure that actions are taken to prevent the situation from escalating.
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He adds that the danger associated with the bird flu is more likely to affect poultry farmers than consumers.
Explaining why this is so, he told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show: “The danger we are talking about here is to the farmer and not the consumer because definitely the consumer will not purchase an infected bird but those who work at the farms are those who are at risk. This is why measures are being put in place so that if those who work at the farm contract it, they do not spread it around”.
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Michael revealed that as at now, no antidote has been discovered to deal with the Avian Influenza (Bird Flu). However, poultry farmers have been advised to ensure the biosecurity of their farms to prevent the further spread of the flu.
“The situation is not very dire. If you take a population of about 30 million birds or 50 million birds, we can say that it is not that serious but we cannot be idle about the situation. So, at this moment measures are being put in place so that it doesn’t escalate”, he reiterated.
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Bird Flu in Ghana
Director of the Veterinary Services Directorate, Dr Patrick Abakeh has revealed that seven farms have so far been affected by the Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) in the Greater Accra region, the Central region and the Volta region.
He stated that, in all, 5,811 birds died naturally on the affected farms, while the Veterinary Services destroyed 4,500 birds.
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A statement from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture confirmed the outbreak of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza disease in the three regions.
The Ministry, therefore, declared a total ban on the importation of poultry and poultry products from neighbouring countries where the prevalence of the disease had been confirmed.
It has also placed a ban on the movement of poultry and poultry products within and from the affected regions and districts to other parts of the country, and strict inspection and issuance of permits to cover the movement of all poultry and poultry products from unaffected parts of the country.
