Poultry farmers pledge to cooperate with government to curtail bird flu

The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) on Wednesday said it would cooperate with the Federal and state governments to curtail the spread of Avian flu in the country.

The President of the Association, Dr Ayoola Oduntan, gave the assurance in Abuja at an emergency meeting of stakeholders with the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, on the outbreak of avian influenza in Nigeria

Oduntan said that all hands must be on deck to curtail the further spread of the disease to other states in the country.

``Poultry farmers experience diseases once in a while and bird flu when properly tackled will disappear within a very short period of time.

``The last time Nigeria recorded this disease was in 2006; we were able to give it a good fight although, the spread was faster and much more than what we are experiencing now.

``For now, the number of the affected states has increased from seven to eleven and we are trying hard to curtail the further spread to more states,’’ he said.

The PAN President said that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture had announced that compensation would be paid to farmers whose birds were affected and had to be destroyed.

However, Oduntan said that no amount of money would be sufficient to compensate the affected farmers.

``In 2006, affected farmers were given a compensation of N250 per bird but the money has risen this year to N1, 450 per affected bird depending on the species and age of the bird.

``We have to commend the Minister and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for this kind gesture taken and this will motivate more affected farmers to report any case of avian influenza quickly,’’ he said.

Oduntan also encouraged members of the public to continue to consume poultry as it was safe if properly cooked.

``Most importantly, we want to urge the public to continue consuming properly cooked poultry and disregard the risk of catching any diseases from this outbreak,” he said.