Dr Ezekiel Pam, Desk Officer, (Animal Health), Avian Influenza Preparedness Project offered the advice yesterday in Jos in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), which was reported by Vanguard.

Dr Pam said the facilities were to ensure the control of avian influenza in the event of an outbreak of the disease.

He also advised them to promptly report suspected cases of the disease to the local government desk officers in their areas.

The country was well equipped to contain the new strain of the disease reported to have been discovered in Nigeria, assured Dr Pam.

He said, "The level of preparedness in the country today is more than what it was in 2006 and 2007, when the disease first broke out in the country."

He added that relevant authorities had beefed up surveillance on the disease, and urged poultry farmers to also increase their bio-security measures.

The measures, he said, include preventing the entry of unauthorised vehicles into poultry farms and disinfecting borrowed equipment before use.

Others are keeping all poultry farms clean, separating birds according to age, breed and species, as well as protecting their birds from coming in contact with wild birds.

The first outbreak of the disease in 2006 affected 97 local governments spread across 25 states.

The new outbreak was confirmed in Fagen-Kawo (Kano state) and Kagarko (Katsina state).

Further Reading

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You can visit the Avian Flu page by clicking here.