Niger State Government Announces The Outbreak of Avian Virus

The Niger State Government has announced the outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), in poultry farms across the state.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that poultry in the state were being infected by type A flu.

In a statement made available to newmen on Tuesday in Minna, the state’s Information Officer for Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Mr Abubakar Kuta, disclosed that thousands of birds in the state worth millions of naira, had been lost to the Avian flu.

He advised poultry farmers to be vigilant, report any incident of sudden high mortality of their birds to the ministry as well as maintain strict farm hygiene, restrict movement of vehicles and people into their farm.

He further explained that disinfection of farm premises and utensils can help curtail the transmission of the flu in the state..
Farmers were also cautioned against the exchange of egg crates and other equipment from other farms as well as minimising contacts with sick and dead birds.

According to Wikipedia, though avian flu is adapted to birds, it can also stably adapt and sustain person-to-person transmission as recent influenza research into the genes of the Spanish flu virus shows it to have genes adapted from both human and avian strains.