Nigeria and BF

    Experts flay govt’s anti-bird flu policies
By Victor Sam, Abuja
Published: Wednesday, 26 Sep 2007
Experts involved in the fight against the spread of the avian influenza virus have said that government has not done enough to prepare for an outbreak of the disease. Speaking at a recent avian influenza workshop in Jos, Plateau State, the experts said concerns were been expressed about Nigeria because of its weak surveillance and detection, poor response and weak control measures.

In his paper, the Plateau State Director of Epidemiology, Dr. Raymond Yuryit, said there was so much anxiety about Nigeria because it was susceptible to factors like the mutation of the virus; poor hygiene; low life expectancy; huge volume of international air travel; and modern cities with large, dense clusters of population.

He said since the measures put in place by government were weak, the country might be overwhelmed in the case of a pandemic. He said government needed to put adequate response measures in place. Some of these measures included quarantine for infected birds, anti-viral measures and investment in vaccinations.

Yuryit said surveillance reports by the country’s Health Rapid Response Teams had shown that there were over 300 cases of people suffering from Influenza Like Illnesses had been recorded. These ILI patients, in about 20 states, became sick after coming into contact with infected birds. He added that heavy and extensive human exposures to the A/H5N1 virus had been recorded in 24 states, while bio-security and bio-safety issues were still weak at many farms and live bird markets.

The expert added that although Nigeria had recorded successes in the provision of operational SRRT, human resources, tertiary health centres and hospitals, it needed continuous public education and good institutional structures to forestall a disaster in the event of a pandemic.

Professor Wayne Frank of the Agriculture Development Office of the United States Agency for International Development, who said the virus only affected birds, however added that human infections had been reported since 1997.

He said, “It is likely that some genetic parts of the current human influenza virus came from birds originally. Influenza A viruses are constantly changing and they might adapt over time to infect and spread among humans.

The H5N1 is highly contagious among birds, but its infections have also occurred in humans either from direct contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces.”

The experts agree that the only way Nigeria could stem the death of a huge number of people at a go in the case of a pandemic is to establish, equip and maintain isolation wards in selected hospitals with functional referral systems in place.

They said the country should also motivate clinicians, farmers and marketers to report the outbreak of diseases to the authorities.

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