Bird flu kills 1,015 birds in Kpone-Katamanso municipality
In Bethlehem, a community in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality in the Greater Accra Region, the Avian Influenza H5N1 (Bird Flu) has killed about 1,015 chickens in a single poultry farm.
Dr. Emmanuel Kwao Pecku, the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Veterinary Officer, told the Ghana News Agency in Kpone that the outbreak was reported to his office, after which a test showed it was Avian Influenza.
Dr. Pecku added that on average, 46 birds perished per day, and that plans were in the works to depopulate the farm in order to prevent the disease from spreading to other farms.
He explained that health officials had been dispatched to the farm by the Municipal Veterinary Officers in coordination with the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Health Directorate to maintain surveillance.
He stated the damaged poultry farm had roughly 1,060 layer birds, of which 1,015 were harmed, and that 30 boxes of eggs were also destroyed to keep the public from eating them.
Dr. Pecku urged the government and other charitable organizations to pay close attention to the condition of H5N1-affected farmers and equip them with Virkon disinfectants to prevent future outbreaks.
He stated that the bird flu may be transmitted to people, and that health officials had been dispatched to other farms to confirm that the birds and eggs were safe to eat. -GNA
