The Ogun State Government has activated bird flu control measures at a breeder poultry farm, located in Orile-Ilugun in Odeda Local Government Area.
According to the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Adepeju Adebajo, the government took the proactive steps to prevent the spread of the Avian Influenza, also known as bird flu, which was discovered on the farm.
She said that the ministry had visited the farm on September 7, to carry out disease surveillance activities, with the intention of curtailing any potential spread of the virus.
“The causative agent was found to be H5N8, which is a variant of the H5N1 virus, that was previously known to exist in Nigeria”, Adebajo said.
She, however, disclosed that there was no cause for alarm, as no live bird from other poultry farms in the state had tested positive to the highly pathogenic bird flu.
According to her, samples of birds taken from another poultry farm in the Local Government Area of the state had tested negative to the H5N8 virus.
“Other farms and markets in Abeokuta, Ijebu Ode, Ilaro and Ayetoro were not left out,” she added.
The last reported incidence of bird flu in Ogun State occurred in October 2015.
