The Federal Department of Veterinary Services has said a farm belonging to NPG Farm Enterprises in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, is free of Avian Influenza (AI).
The Federal Epidemiology Officer at the National Animal Disease Information and Surveillance (NADIS), Dr Florence Kakulu, announced this on Wednesday night in Ibadan.
Addressing reporters, Kakulu said results from the samples taken from the farm and sent to NVRI in Jos, Plateau State capital, for examination were negative.
The agency chief said customers were free to patronise and consume the farm’s products.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Oyo State government, on Wednesday evening, re-opened the hatchery of the farm at Oluyole in Ibadan.
The hatchery was re-opened by Dr Kareem Adebayo, the Avian Influenza Desk Officer in Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The Oyo State government, last Saturday, sealed up the hatchery, following a suspicion of outbreak of AI at the farm in neighbouring Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Officials of Ogun State government also visited the farm to carry out an investigation.
Adebayo told reporters that the state government took the proactive step to forestall any outbreak of AI.
“When we received the information, we rushed down to the farm to seal it to prevent the spread of the disease in the state.
“We took samples of the products and sent them to the Nigeria Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Jos, for comprehensive examination.
“Today, we received result of the examination and it was negative. This means that the birds at NPG farms are good for rearing and their products fit for consumption,” he said.
He stated that the government has re-opened the hatchery for normal business.
Dr Segun Makanjuola, a representative of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) in Oyo State, said NVRI subjected the samples to Serology and Virological test.
Management of NPG Farms Enterprises is seeking compensation from government to make up for the over N10 million loss it claimed to have incurred.
Mrs Sakirat Okewole, a Public Health scientist and a co-founder of the farm, said it lost more than half of its 50,000 birds.
Comments by IntenseDebate
Posting anonymously.
Oyo farm free of Avian Influenza
News|