Nigeria
The chicken you must not eat – Expert
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Sunday, Dec 31, 2006
More than any other time in the year, the yuletide season is the period when chicken are killed and eaten in very large quantity. And in the face of the ravaging Avian Influenza (Bid Flu) scare still reported around the world, Staff Writer Opaka Dokubo met with Dr. Allwell Emejuru, Secretary, Inter-Ministerial Committee on Bird Flu in Rives State and the Desk Officer (Anima Health) in charge of Rivers State, under the World Bank sponsored Avian Influenza Control Project in Nigeria, in his office in Port Harcourt.
Among others, Dr. Emejuru spoke on cautions to be taken while handling birds generally, the state of affairs in Rivers State concerning the disease and the long awaited compensation to farmers whose birds were culled in the state. Excerpts.
Current situation about bird flu in Rivers
By February this year, we had the incidence of bird flu at Bori Camp Army Barracks. We went to control the situation and exterminated the diseased birds. And you can see that Rivers State is free of Bird flu. So, in this period of Christmas, people can eat their chickens but only watch out for unusual signs like death of a large number of birds (and) call on us and we will respond and to confirm if it is bird flu or not so that we can take appropriate action.
Signs to look out for
The first sign is high mortality in a poultry house. Say some one has about 500 to 1000 birds and about half of them dieing within two days. Of course when that happens, you may be afraid yourself and so you should expose yourself further. You may not know at first but signs should call for caution. The other signs include rending of parts of the body, cough and sudden death. You may even be there watching the birds die in your presence.
The reason we want it to be controlled at the animal level is because if the virus is transferred to human beings, (they) are also likely to die in such large numbers. And that’s why efforts are made to control the disease at the animal level and that also explains why all animals within the infected area are killed or culled to prevent the spread of the virus.
Situation around the world
We’ve heard unconfirmed reports of a case in France and also of somebody dieing of Bird flu in Egypt. However, there has not been any case of human death in Nigeria. It (bird flu) is there and the effort all over the world is to make sure that this disease is controlled. The virus has been with the birds and is jumping to humans. The effort is to make sure that it is restricted to the animal level. But the virus is fighting back and we are trying to suppress it. In Nigeria, there was a report of its resurgence in Lagos State last month but it was controlled as well. We are at alert. The caution we have now is that, this is Winter in Europe and during this period some birds migrate from there to Africa that is warm. That is why we are very alert and also advise that people should watch out for signs, such as sudden death of large number of birds, those that have swollen heads, cough and painted parts of the body.
The problem of bird flu is not in the death of birds. We have several diseases that cause the death of large number of Birds but because this one affects man and has the potential of killing man in large number also, that’s why there’s this global concern for it. It indeed carries the danger of going into a pandemic where a large number of people can die within a very short period of time, so everybody has to be cautious about it.
In this regard, we advise that people should stop sleeping with chickens in the same room. In some villages, women still have some corners where their chickens sleep, while they sleep on the other end. They should stop that. Another thing is that whenever somebody touches chicken, he should wash his hands properly – live chicken particularly. People should not eat any sick chicken at all. People should not take that risk. Previously people quickly slaughtered any chicken they observed to be sick. However, now we advise, since they cannot tell the nature of the sickness, that people should completely stay away from sick or dead chicken.
This virus (avian influenza virus) is still trying to be accustomed to the human body and once that happens, the transferability from man to man becomes easier. So, the more we keep it away from human body, the better for us.
Cooking kills the virus
Cooking kills the virus. In fact the cooked chicken has no problem. Heat destroys the virus. It is in the process of preparation the problem lies. It is the person doing the touching and preparing while it is yet uncooked that runs the danger of breathing in the virus and be infected.
Children also run the risk. They may see a wild bird in their surrounding or where they have them as pets. If the pet is carrying the virus, they can be infected.
Virus infects birds generally
Birds like the water duck is a very good reservoir for this virus but they don’t show the signs. So, while they are roaming about with the virus, they can transfer it to our domestic chickens – which we feel free to touch. That is where the danger lies and that is why you need to watch your hands very well each time you touch any bird. Again even pigs carry the virus without showing any signs and they will not die.
Human vulnerability
This may be in the human constitution. Even up till now, the avian influenza virus is still trying to be fully accustomed to surviving in the human body and the moment it finds it very easy to do this, a pandemic will occur. And that is what we are trying to prevent. At the moment if a human is infected and is not treated within 48 hours, the person stands a very slim chance of survival. That is why when a chicken is infected, we don’t talk only about the diseased chickens, but all chickens, within that area are exterminated. We don’t want to give the virus any chance of getting to humans regularly and then posing such a great danger and that is the concern of the whole world.
Compensation to farmers
Actually it is the programme of the federal government to cull all the infected birds and pay compensation, and actually payment has been made in some sates of the federation. However, the scheme has been taken over by the Avian Influenza Control Project – it is a national project. They have taken over the payment of compensation. The situation is that before January (2007) runs out, affected farmers in Rivers State will be paid.
Under the new programme, however, within three days of the culling of birds, affected farmers will be paid. The delay had been due to the attempt at fashioning out a way of hastening the process of payment and surely after this one, there will be no more delays. Before now, it was done under an ad hoc arrangement but now a proper structure has been put in place and so within three days of the culling of birds, the person will be paid from next year.
We actually appreciate the patience of those whose birds were culled. They should please bear with us. Arrangements are made to make sue that they are paid in January 2007.
Message to public
We don’t have any fear about bird flu in Rivers State, however, if you observe any signs, just call on us and we will take care of it. They should also avoid eating sick or dead chicken. For now, Rivers State is free of bird flu.
