FEC RELEASES UPDATED BIRD FLU EMERGENCY RESPONSE GUIDELINES

Professor Yemi Osibanjo

A new emergency response strategy has been unveiled by the federal government to combat illnesses that affect livestock, particularly bird flu.

The decision was made at the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, which Vice President Yemi Osinbajo presided over. Cabinet members drew lessons from the 2006 avian influenza outbreak and discussed the best ways to address new challenges in the livestock industry.

Following discussion, FEC approved a motion calling for the livestock business to reveal a comprehensive emergency preparedness and response plan.

When describing what happened at the meeting to State House Correspondents, Minister of Agriculture Mohammed Abubakar recalled how the country lost over 1.2 million birds as a result of the bird flu that struck the country in 2006.

He said this:"The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development [today] presented a memo on the Revised Comprehensive Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Nigeria, (the Animal Component). This is a highly pathogenic viral infection that is so contagious and Zoonotic, meaning it can go from animals to humans and can cause death and can cause sickness. So the previous policy was put together by experts back in 2005, in order to contain, quickly, any kind of outbreak of bird flu. But the sector has grown so much with the additional importation of maybe new and exotic birds."

According to Abubakar, the livestock sector has expanded over the years to include over 165 million birds, generates an average of N1.6 trillion in revenue, and is dominated by 70% of rural residents.

"Therefore, the need to revise this policy and produce a new one that will conform with the current happenings in the industry. That is why this new policy is being put forward by the ministry and it's the same, I mean, it's called the Comprehensive Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan to contain any future occurrence," he declared.

He said this:"The addition to this new policy, also, is the establishment of centres that will cater for issues of compensation to poultry farmers in the country. This is basically what the new policy is all about and has just been approved by the Federal Executive Council."

He stated the objective, "is to make sure we have a robust preparedness plan."