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Six months ago, River state and a number of other states in Nigeria were hit by bird flu. The government is already warning the general public again of another impending bird flu outbreak in Rivers State. This warning was made public by Nanna Onyekwere, the director of public health services in Rivers State’s ministry of health.

According to him, the state government had been able to trace bird flu to at least 2 farm in the state located in Choba in Obio Akpor local government area. He therefore warned residents across the state to be wary of this and take special caution in handling livestock and birds especially, which are carriers of the causative organism responsible for bird flu.

Domiari Harry, the permanent secretary of the ministry of health Rivers State warned farmers across the state to be wary of their livestock, especially their birds. He told them to also be vigilant regarding happenings around them and to report any case suspected to be case of bird flu to the health authorities. He also told them to watch their birds closely and contact he ministry if any of the birds show suspicious behaviors.

The warning also went to members of the general public on how they should handle birds. He counseled them on the need to properly wash eggs before boiling and before consumption. He further counseled them on the need for consistent hand washing.  

He further gave assurance to the general public that the government is committed to their well being in all ramifications and they are doing all they can to ensure the disease does not spread before it is curtailed.

The two farms where bird flu was discovered had been sealed by the state government and further investigation is being carried out to ascertain the extent of the spread among the birds and the extent of damage already done. Birds from they affected farms are not allowed to get to the market. The government hopes timely and proper curtailing of the situation will help curb the spread of bird flu in the state. 

It would be recalled that bird flu outbreak was recorded in several states across the nation with majority of them being southern states. The states affected were Kano, Lagos, Plateau, Edo, Rivers, Delta and Ogun. Kano state was the worst hit among the states.

However, the timely intervention of the government ensured the problems were curtailed before they could spread beyond manageable state.  According to the federal government, up to 140,000 birds were affected in all the states affected then. The government effectively put an end to the spread before it could become an epidemic.

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the then Minister of Agriculture reiterated government’s commitment towards total eradication of bird flu in Nigeria by setting up modalities towards timely detection of the risk to ensure its timely resolution.

To curb the situation six months ago, the federal ministry of health carried out various levels of interventions, like quarantine, decontamination and depopulation. Over 15 commercial farms were temporarily shut down then to curtail the spread of bird flu. Bird flu is called by avian influenza, a virus.