Three years ago the deadly H5N1 strain of the avianinfluenza virus landed in Africa, with the first cases reported in poultryfarms in Nigeria. From there, it quickly spread across the continent, reducingdemand for poultry and related products ? and wrecking poultry industries.Eventually, however, it disappeared and dealers are trying to revive theirbusinesses.
But experts say the disease is still lurking in someAfrican countries and could break out any time. They are taking steps to keepit from spreading across borders. Bird flu monitors say Africa is not entirelypurged of the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus that wreakedhavoc on the continent's poultry industry for two years beginning in 2006.
The FAO's Emergency Centre for Transboundary AnimalDisease [ECTAD] conducted a survey in northern Nigeria last year that revealedtraces of the disease.
They fear another outbreak and are preparing poultryfarmers and dealers to withstand another epidemic through early reporting,enhanced cross-border communication, and better farming and handling practices.
Dr. Fallou Gueye is a safe poultry production specialistat the center's regional office in Bamako, Mali. He says to prevent another full-blownepidemic, the movements of infected live fowl must be monitored and poultrydealers must be geared up for prevention.
"We consider that there are some movements ofpoultry and poultry products, and we want to make sure that major players adoptthe same strategies, the same behavior and that they're equally informed andexchange information." He says, "No,there's no scare, but there's a need to build the capacities of stakeholders sothat they can take all the measures they can put in place to make sure that anydisease ? it can be avian influenza, but there're also other diseases ? do notenter their bird flocks. We are also extending our activities to othertransboundary animal diseases."
The FAO's Emergency Center for Animal Disease ispartnering with a project sponsored by USAID, STOP Avian Influenza, or STOP AI.They're holding regional workshops across the continent and encouragingpoultry dealers and governments to be on the alert.
Rachel Tkachuk is an operations specialist for STOPAI. Recently, she organized one of the workshops in Cameroon. She says thecurrent threats warrant permanent scrutiny.
"The STOP AI project is stepping out, geared towardseducating people on biosecurity; how to avoid having an outbreak; and, ifthere's an outbreak, how to respond to it quickly and effectively. We want tobe sure that folks understood the importance of biosecurity. We certainly gotthe impression that people are opening up and learning new things anddiscussing among themselves. Now they have contacts in other countries and herelocally where they can reach out if they do have a cross-cultural question,"she says.
Africa's first bird flu cases were detected on acommercial poultry farm in northern Nigeria in January 2006. Cameroon, whichshares a 1.700 km long border with Nigeria, banned imports of poultry productsfrom its neighbor and created contingency programs. But within weeks, it became the fourth Africancountry to be struck when strains of the virus were detected in ducks in thenorth.
The looming specter of an epidemic sparkedwidespread panic as more cases were spotted in other parts of the country.Consumers quickly shunned fowls and eggs pushing hundreds of poultry farmersand traders out of business.
Francois Njonou is secretary general of theInterprofessional Poultry Association (IPAVIC) and also a poultry farmer in Cameroon'seconomic hub, Douala. He says production slumped from 650,000 chickens per weekto less than 50,000, and that many poultry farmers are not able to resurrecttheir businesses.
Njonou says inaccurate communication caused anobsession that wrecked the industry. He says losses evaluated by theInterprofessional Poultry Association stood at over US $6.3 million. Theassociation signed a deal with the government last year to disburse funds tohelp farmers step up production but Djonou says part of the money has still notbeen made available.
During the crisis many poultry farmers hid theirlivestock in their rooms. They said they did not get enough compensation forfowls slaughtered by government agents. Others said bird flu, like AIDS, wasanother 'white man's invention' and increased their consumption of chicken andeggs auctioned in the streets.