A total of 10,291 birds have so far died naturally or destroyed in three regions, following the outbreak of the of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza disease, otherwise known as Bird Flu in some parts of the country.
The death of the 5,791 birds and destruction of the 524 others by the Veterinary Service Directorate (VSD) occurred on seven affected poultry farms in the Greater Accra, Central and Volta regions.
Data released by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) yesterday said, in Greater Accra , where five farms had been affected, 3,167 birds died naturally , representing the highest natural death while 300 were destroyed by VSD.
On the only farm affected in Central, the update said 2,400 birds succumbed to the flu before the directorate destroyed the remaining 4,200 as part of measures to contain the outbreak.
The MOFA disclosed that Volta has one affected farm, where 224 birds had died since the outbreak with no bird destroyed yet by the VSD since it started tackling the situation.
To help curtail the spread of the disease, the Ministry urged the public to report any unusual death of domestic poultry and wild birds to the nearest veterinary office and public authorities.
It asked the citizenry to avoid the handling of dead birds with bare hands at all cost and consume only well-cooked poultry meat and poultry products to ensure public safety.
It is recalled that the MOFA in a statement issued on Friday banned the importation of poultry and poultry products from Ghana’s neighbouring countries as part of measures to check the outbreak of the flu in the three regions.
It also prohibited the movement of poultry and poultry products within and from the affected regions and districts where bird flu has been recorded to other parts of the country.
Signed by Dr Patrick Abakeh, Director of VSD, the statement said, the Directorate had instituted strict inspection and issuance of permits to cover the movement of all poultry and poultry products from unaffected areas.
It said the outbreak of the disease followed the detection of similar cases in neighbouring countries since January 2021 which was prevented from entering the country through surveillanceand disease control management by the VSD.
Cases of the Bird Flu disease were previously recorded in 2007, 2015, 2016, and 2018, with a significant economic impact on affected poultry farmers.
The zoonotic nature of the disease calls for public alert and vigilance to mitigate the possible impact on the poultry industry and public health in general.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
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