PAN cautions farmers as bird flu resurfaces in Kano

The Chairman of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) in Plateau, Mr John Dasar, has cautioned its members to ensure strict bio-security measures to avert another outbreak of bird flu.

Dasar said in an interview in Jos on Saturday that the warning became necessary as investigations showed that the disease had resurfaced in Kano and some states in the South West.

He called on the farmers to adopt stringent bio-security measures to forestall the outbreak of the disease.

“Bird flu is one of the fastest spreading diseases in Nigeria. This is because poultry products are being moved from one point to another and from state to state.

“The last time the disease began in Lagos around Jan. 8, 2015 and by Jan. 18 of that same year, it was already recorded in Plateau, meaning that within the span of just 10 days, it had reached our domain.

“Reports have it that the disease has shown its ugly head in Kano and some states in the South West, so the need for our farmers to be reminded to take their bio-security more seriously,” he said.

The chairman explained that a lot of farmers suffered during the last outbreak of the disease in the state, and that PAN would not allow such an ugly incidence to affect its members again.

“We are calling on farmers not to relax on adhering strictly to bio-security measures because Nigeria is not yet free of bird flu,” he added.

Dasar, however, said that since June 2015, no case of the disease had been reported in the state and commended the efforts of the farmers who kept to terms with the tenets of poultry business.

In 2015, Plateau was one of the most hit states when there was an outbreak of bird flu which left the state with more than 160 farms closed down and 400,000 birds destroyed.