Poultry farmers groan as bird flu worsens in Delta

The management of Oghenejename Farms Limited, Ekrerhavwen-Agbarho, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State, has bemoaned the outbreak of bird flu, as the flu has wrecked havoc in the farm.

Director of Production in the Farm, Mr. Andrew Unutame, revealed that most of the farms in the state have been affected by the influenza which they had been trying to curtail in the last three months.

Over 11, 000 birds, including laying birds and the ones at the point of lay, have been killed in the farm in the last three days.

Unutame said, “The bird flu is an airborne disease that kills birds on hourly basis. The first day we noticed, two birds died. Within the next one hour, five birds died, then 10 and the mortality rate began to increase at a geometric progression.

“Presently, we are helpless because all measures to put the disease has so far failed. We have lost millions of naira to the outbreak of this disease and we don’t know how to come out of it presently.

“We are calling on the Federal Government, State government and relevant agencies to come to our aid by providing for us all that is necessary to tackle this problem, including financial assistance.”

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