Kwame Awuku taking media representatives around his farm
The lack of adequate veterinary officers in the country has been blamed for the outbreak of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, which killed 76,326 birds from 36 farms and rendered hundreds of poultry farmers jobless last year.
Ghana has only 43 veterinary officers scattered across the country, a number which is inadequate for the mandated visits to poultry farms to assist farmers on steps to take to avoid the occurrence of an outbreak of the viral disease.
One of the causes of the devastating nature of the viral disease was the delayed detection of the disease which could have been addressed with early reporting, but the inadequate number of veterinary officers visiting the farms on a regular basis worsened the situation.
This was disclosed during a media visit to one of the farms recovering from the trauma of the disease outbreak which killed 36,000 birds on the farm.
The visit to Delawin farms, organised by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), sponsored by UNICEF with USAID funding, was to give the media first-hand information into the detection, management and recovery process from bird flu.
Kwame Awuku, Managing Director of Delawin Farms which was the worst affected by the disease outbreak in Accra, stated that they are still in shock at the rate at which they lost all their birds to avian influenza.
“We did not know how it happened or who brought it here but we lost everything,” he said.
Mr Awuku indicated that although the veterinary service and government came to their aid, he indicated that they could have saved some of their birds should they have reported the incidence earlier.
“We use to have veterinary officers visiting frequently but now they hardly come around we only saw them during the outbreak of bird flu,” he said.
Mr Awuku mentioned that the farm which had started production again after months of disinfection and waiting for the farm to be declared influenza-free started the implementation of measures to avoid the reoccurrence of the disease.
“We now have a foot bath to disinfect everyone coming into the farm we have also completed the wall around the farm to prevent other birds from entering,” he said.
Dr Paul Plokuu, Head of Epidemiology Unit of the Veterinary Service, said it was important for all to assist the veterinary unit in curbing the outbreak of bird flu through early reportage.
Acknowledging the inadequate number of veterinary officers in the country, he said what the public can do to assist the unit was to report to the unit if they observe any symptoms of the flu among local birds.
“What we do not want is for the birds to transmit it to humans who will be fatal so we need everyone to support us in detecting it among the birds,” he said.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri