700,000 birds culled in Nigeria since Avian flu outbreak, WHO official says
NIGERIA - Around 700,000 birds have been culled in Nigeria since the outbreak of Avian flu in February this year, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) official.
23 October 2006
2 minute read
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Chijioke Osakwe, as giving the figure in a paper he presented at a public function in southeastern city of Enugu.
Osakwe said the birds were culled at a cost of 560 million naira (4.3 million dollars/ 3.4 million euros).
He said the country's poultry industry had 140 million birds, with "backyard" poultry farmers accounting for 60 per cent of the total, NAN said.
The industry, he said, contributed nine per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product.
Quoting the World Bank's prediction of a 800-million-dollar annual loss in the global poultry sector due to the ravaging bird disease, Osakwe said efforts must be made by all stakeholders and the citizens to stem its spread.
Source: Today Online
