Bird flu: Kano kills 340,000 birds

The Kano State Government said on Friday it had so far killed over 340,000 birds since bird flu resurfaced in the state over two months ago.
Dr. Shehu Bawa, the Director of Veterinary Services of the state Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Kano that the birds were killed in 49 farms.
Bawa said: “We have killed over 340,000 birds since the disease resurfaced in the state on December 21, 2015.
“The birds were destroyed in 49 poultry farms across the state.”
Bawa disclosed that 10 additional samples were still at the National Veterinary Research Institute, Jos, Plateau State awaiting confirmation.
Bawa regretted that inadequate Personal Protective Equipment was hindering the activities of the department in the fight against the disease.
He said: “The equipment is being used by health personnel to go into the affected farms to kill infected birds.
“It is against the WHO standard to kill the infected birds without wearing the PPE.”
According to Bawa, the absence of the equipment has affected the operations of the department as the facility was not available even in the markets across the country.
The director called on the Federal Government to come to the aid of the state by providing the needed drugs and facilities to check the spread of the disease.
He, however, commended the Governments of Jigawa and Zamfara States for assisting their Kano State counterpart with some of the PPE.
NAN.