From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Farmers in Delta State are counting their losses following an outbreak of Avian Influenza popularly known as bird flu in the state.
According to some of the affected farmers, birds worth millions of naira have been killed by the disease.
Mr. Andrew Unutame of Oghenejename Farms Limited, Ekrerhavwen-Agbarho, Ughelli North Local Government Area, said their birds started dying last week as a result of the attack.
Unutame who is the Production Manager of the farm Delta decried the development, lamenting that the flu has wrecked havoc.
He said 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.
Unutame said 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.
“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 millons 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 of give to come to our aid by providing for us all that is necessary to tackle this problem, including financial assistance,” he said.
Commissioner for Agriculture in the state, Mr. Julius Egbedi confirmed the outbreak in the state, saying that he would make a report to the state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.