According to a Publication By This Day Live The Rivers State Government on Tuesday
announced the outbreak of Avian flu,
commonly known as bird flu, in the state,
adding that it had quarantined a privately
owned farm over the disease.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr.
Emma Chinda, who spoke in Port Harcourt,
said hundreds of birds had been eliminated in
a privately owned farm affected by the flu in
Port Harcourt.
He also said the farm had been quarantined
and decontaminated, adding that no human
infection had however been recorded.
His words: “On January 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,” he said.
The commissioner, who said samples of the
flu were taken to the Veterinary Research
Institute in Plateau State, said,
“Unfortunately, the result came out on
January 17 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 (kill) the birds in
the farm to stop further spread.
“Thereafter, we decontaminated the farm. We
are containing the situation because officials
of government and experts are on ground
monitoring the situation.”
Chinda however said there was no need to
panic because the state government was well
equipped to handle the situation, adding that
it had received information from the Federal
Ministry of Agriculture on Avian Influenza in
Kano and a bird market in Lagos before the
outbreak.
“We were very much on alert and when it
happened here (and) we handled the
situation,” he said.
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