July 6, 2004

Nigerian Experts Recommend Ban On Asian Poultry

A consultative forum of experts set up on the directives of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Avian Influenza (also known as Bird Flu), has recommended the banning of imports of all poultry and its products from Asia as well as other countries affected by the epidemic.

In a press release signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Tope Ajakaiye yesterday said Nigeria lacks the "conclusive scientific knowledge of its status concerning the disease and the possible roles of domestic and wild ducks, water fowls and other migratory birds in its transmission, coupled with the inadequate livestock and poultry movement control due to insufficient veterinary quarantine facilities".

The Forum organised by the Department of Livestock and Pest Control Services of the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Veterinary Research Institute Vom Plateau State, had experts drawn from the Federal Ministry of Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, Veterinary Council of Nigeria, the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association and the poultry Association of Nigeria.

According to a communique released after the meeting, "Nigeria's poultry industry is highly dependent on imported hatchable eggs and day-old parent and grandparent stocks". Therefore it is recommended that such imports must be from certified disease free and import permits duly issued by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.