Bird flu: FG tightens borders, to begin vaccination of birds

Following the outbreak of Bird flu in the neighbouring Niger Republic, the Federal Government has said that it has tightened its borders on movement of birds into the country.

The Federal Director of Veterinary and Pest Control Services, Dr Maimuna Abdullahi Habbib who disclosed this to journalists on Thursday in Abuja, said the Federal Government would soon embark on vaccination of birds.

She said the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar would be meeting with stakeholders in the poultry industry to take steps to curb the spread of the disease.

“It has become endemic all over the world, we have met at the international and regional level and we have decided that the government of Nigeria should change its policy from no vaccination to vaccination.

“We are meeting with the Minister on Friday with stakeholders in the poultry industry, we want to discuss and see how we can change the policy from no vaccination to vaccination, that has been done in other countries and it is helping a lot to curtail the disease”, she said.

When asked if the Nigerian government was contemplating closing the borders, she said “definitely, we have people at the borders to control the movements of birds internationally and from anywhere in the world”.

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