Agriculture
DR Jorce Egboja, Managing Director, Ojaba Integrated Veterinary has called on poultry farmers and livestock breeders to embrace bio-security to prevent outbreaks of Avian Influenza (bird flu) and its attendant economic losses.
Egboja made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
Biosecurity are measures aimed at preventing the introduction or spread of harmful organisms to animals and plants in order to minimise the risk of transmission of infectious disease.
Egboja urged farmers to maintain farm hygiene and international best practices in their daily activities.
“Do not make your farm zoos, restrict the people that enter your farm. Poultry farm is not a zoo whereby you entertain or showcase your products.
“Bird flu can come from human contact, so restrict visitors on the farm,’’ she said.
Egboja identified other biosecurity measures as disinfecting, spraying of farm and placing foot mat at the entrance of the pens.
According to her, there should be foot mat at the gate being the point of entry of vehicles into the farm adding that there should be spraying of vehicles and crates of eggs too.
“All these are means of curtailing avian influenza and other infectious diseases,” she said.
The veterinarian warned farmers against allowing customers to enter their farms to pick eggs by themselves.
“There should be a distance between the farm and where customers reach,’’ Egboja said.
(NAN)
KN
Tags: Avian Influenza Jorce Egboja
