Poultry Traders Express Frustration Over Bird-Flu Menace

Some restaurant and ‘chop bar’ operators as well as poultry traders in the eastern region have expressed frustration about the outbreak of the bird-flu disease which according to them is sinking their businesses.

They have however accused the government for doing very little about the situation through proper sensitization to douse the fears the public in eating poultry products.

According to them, the outbreak of the bird-flu has heavily declined sales and as result has adversely affected their incomes.

Speaking in an interview with this reporter in Koforidua, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Juel Catering Services, Mrs Nana Esi Hoyles, echoed that the disease has had adverse effects on their businesses.

She explained that even though the Ministry of Food and agriculture (MoFA) had allayed fears of the public by assuring that critical measures were being taken to contain the disease, there has been no sensitization on the disease to educate the citizenry.

“Even though MoFA has urged the public to continue to consume poultry and its products because they are still safe, there has not been much education and this lack of education on the outbreak of the disease has resulted in low patronage of chicken,” she stressed.

Mrs Hoyles asserted that the bird-flu outbreak might collapse businesses if the government does not put proactive measures in place to curb the menace.

Kitchen staff at Partners May Hotel in Koforidua confirmed that clients were moving away from purchasing chicken to buying fish.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has alerted the public to cook the poultry products well before consuming and assured that there had been a ban on the movement of poultry and poultry products until they would become convinced that the virus has been contained.

As it stands now the source of the outbreak has still not been known and experts and authorities are currently working tirelessly to detect the source and to quell it.

The Ministry has however urged the public to monitor both domestic birds and other pet birds they are keeping at their homes and report to the veterinary offices whenever they notice any changes in them.