Poultry farmers urged to improve hygiene on farms

Dr Enock B Koney, National Director of the Veterinary Services, on Monday, urged stakeholders in the poultry industry to adopt improved hygiene practices to prevent the outbreak of the Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) and other poultry related diseases.

He also advised farmers to ensure that rodents and alien wild birds do not enter their farms saying, “If you should adopt the practice of good hygiene on your farms seriously, you would have no reason to be worried about an outbreak of diseases”.

Dr Koney said this at the open of a two-week Ghana Bio Security Surveillance and Outbreak Response Training of Trainers Workshop in Tamale on Monday.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organised the programme to train participants in communication skills and disease control.

Officials from the Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD), Public Health and Reference Laboratory (PHRL), Ghana Health Service (GHS), National Disaster Management Organisation Management (NADMO) and the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) are attending the workshop.

Dr Koney said whenever there was an outbreak of any disease on poultry farms, the hygiene of the farm would be considered before compensations would be made on the destruction.
Dr Koney urged participants to make the best out of the workshop and to effectively impact the knowledge they would acquire to others.

He said there had been no outbreak of the avian influenza (AI) this year and that the last time the disease was heard of was in June last year in Aflao, Tema and Sunyani.

He said the “veterinary service had its men on the ground to make sure that all was well.

Mr Sylvester Adongo, Northern Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture urged participants to be curious and respond quickly to rumours as part of the security measures in disease prevention on the farm.