By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
PRICES of poultry birds have crashed in Warri South Local Government Area and environs over fears of outbreak of dreaded Avian Influenza otherwise known as bird flu.
Stonix News had reported on Thursday that the daily dead and dying poultry birds were being auctioned at give-away prices in Ughelli, orchestrating a scramble for the birds by low income earners.
In Warri axis as of Thursday, hawkers of the live chickens were seen frantically currying favours to sell off their birds brought to some roadsides in cages.
A quick market survey indicated that an old layer was sold for N2,000 as against the previous price of N4,000 and above.
The drastic reduction in the price also reflected in other categories of live chickens in the market survey.
Stonix News gathered that unhealthy live adult chickens were sold at a lesser price.
One of the hawkers, Ibrahim Mohammed, who responded to enquiries at popular Warri Garage attested that he sold more than two large cages of live chickens daily in the past four days!
He affirmed that hundreds of live chickens had died since the past two weeks due to yet-to-be-diagnosed disease, but suspected to be bird flu.
Experts had earlier warned purchasers of the infected poultry birds to beware of the transmissible disease to humans, admonishing them to cook the chickens well if they must consume them.
Dr Hyacinth Uguru, veterinary doctor, had said it was dangerous to humans, adding that the viral disease was transmissible from the birds to humans.
“There has been no sustained human spread of the H5N1; however, direct or indirect contact with the infected live or dead birds can result in typical flu-like clinical manifestations such as high fever, cough, muscle aches, diarrhoea, vomiting and others, which can culminate in severe respiratory disease in humans,” he had warned.
Meanwhile, a Warri-based public analyst, Chief Akpojotor Adjarho, has called on health authorities in Delta State to investigate the reported outbreak of bird flu in order to safe guard public health.
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