The Federal Government has directed the compensation of N145 million to be paid to all poultry farms affected with bird flu within 72 Hours.
The minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, made the announcement during an emergency meeting with state commissioners on the control of the virus yesterday in Abuja.
Adesina said the compensation will be paid to 39 farms across nine states which include, Rivers, Delta, Edo, Plateau, Lagos, Ogun, Gombe, Imo, Oyo and Jigawa state.
The Minister estimated that a total of 232,385 birds have been exposed to Bird Flu with a mortality rate of 51,444 recorded.
He said “The worst hit state is Kano as a total of 136,905 birds have been exposed to the infection, with a mortality rate of 17,987, representing 13 per cent. The cases were found in Gwale, Kunbotso, Tofa, Gaya and Ungogo local governments.”
He also assured Nigerians that the outbreak will be contained. He said “I wish to assure Nigerians that Nigeria will successfully control the bird flu outbreak. We have successfully controlled it in the past. I have directed the immediate trigger of all the protocols under the Emergency Response Plan for Avian Influenza used during the last outbreak in 2006.”
“We want to have a restriction within the affected states of at least 3km, so we have a total quarantine zone.”
The Minister also directed state directors of veterinary service to provide daily reports, he said “In the modern age that we are in today, we must be able to quickly diagnose and predict the probability of any influenza, so we would work to establish a regional diagnostic centre that can predict based on the migration of birds, infection and the progression of the disease especially during dry season, when outbreak of avian influenza is usually recorded.”
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