Battle with bird flu worsens Nigeria’s poultry farmers’ woes

The recent outbreak of avian influenza, also known as bird flu, in Nigeria has worsened the plight of poultry farmers who are already faced with a myriad of problems.

The outbreak, the first in two years, has compounded the difficulties already facing the Nigerian poultry industry. From the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and escalating feed-grains prices, some poultry farmers have been pushed to the brink as they battle the bird flu outbreak.

The flu, an airborne disease that usually occurs during cold weather – between November and February, is a threat to livelihoods and food security in Africa’s most populous country.

“The poultry industry is already in a comatose. We have suffered severely since the pandemic and the bird flu outbreak recorded in the country currently will further worsen our situation,” Ezekiel Ibrahim, national president, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), said.

“Bird flu has been a re-occurring issue in the country and we have failed to improve on our biosecurity,” Ibrahim said, noting that the government had not provided sufficient support to poultry farmers despite the dire situation the industry was currently facing.

Cases of the highly contagious strains of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and H5N1 have been found in Kano, Bauchi, Plateau, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Niger states, and killing birds or forcing farms to cull poultry to keep the virus at bay is ongoing, PAN told BusinessDay.

According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, over 329,000 birds across 62 farms have been slaughtered to contain the virus spread.

“It has been difficult for poultry farmers since the virus outbreak. Lots of poultry farmers are in fear over the recent bird flu outbreak in the country,” said Idris Kabiru, owner of a 3,000 layers battery cage poultry farm in Kano.

“I have increased biosecurity measures on my poultry farm since the first case was recorded in Kano. I lost about N2 million during the lockdown and would not be able to survive another form of loss,” Kabiru said.

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He urged the government to come to the rescue of affected poultry farms, saying with adequate support the farmers would not lose their means of livelihood nor be forced to shut down operations.

The 2016 Agriculture Promotion Policy document released by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture puts Nigeria’s annual chicken consumption at 200 million birds and supply at 140 million birds, indicating a gap of 60 million birds.

Adeniran Alabi, chief veterinary officer – Federation and Director of Veterinary and Pest Control Services, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in a recent interview, confirmed that the country recorded the first outbreak after two years on January 29, 2021, in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano State.

The major control measures of the avian influenza outbreak in the country have remained detection, depopulation, decontainment, and compensation for farmers, Alabi said.

Globally, the avian influenza virus has been reported in Europe and Asia. Migrating birds, especially ducks and eaglets, are the main agents of the intercontinental spread of the bird flu virus.

According to experts, understanding the signs and symptoms of the viral infection in birds is important to avoid transmission to humans. Some bird flu strains are zoonotic, that is, it is transmitted to humans.

Nigeria has reported seven cases of the virus among humans – Kano four and Plateau three, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says.

The symptoms in poultry birds include sudden death without any signs; purple discolouration of the wattles, combs, and legs; soft-shelled or misshapen eggs; lack of energy and appetite, diarrhoea, swelling head, eyelids and comb, and coughing and sneezing.

Usman Umar, veterinary consultant at Vetco Livestock Solutions, urged poultry farmers to put in place strict biosecurity measures to protect their farms and help put the virus at bay.

“The virus is very dangerous and it spread rapidly,” Usman said, and noted that there was a vaccine against the virus but that the Federal Government was yet to approve its use.