₦airaland Forum

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Thursday announced that there had been unusual high mortality in two poultry farms and live bird markets in Kano and Lagos states.

The ministry said the bird’s blood samples forwarded to the National Veterinary Research Institute tested positive for H5 Strain of Avian Influenza virus, otherwise known as bird flu, adding that another confirmatory samples were sent to the International Reference Laboratory in Padova, Italy for further characterisation.

Avian influenza, known informally as Avian flu or bird flu, refers to influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds. Influenza, commonly known as ‘flu’ is an infectious disease caused by the influenza virus.

The ministry, in a statement, noted that it had taken some measures in the affected sites to contain the reported outbreaks.

FMARD said it had quarantined the infected premises and placed restriction of movement on poultry and poultry products into and out of areas around infected premises.

It said, “All state Directors of Veterinary Services and the Federal Capital Territory, Poultry Association of Nigeria and other stakeholders have been informed and advised to be on alert with intensified bio-security measures to avert possible spread of the disease to other states.

“The World Organisation for Animal Health and Inter African Bureau for Animal Resource and development partners have been appropriately notified in compliance with our statutory international obligations.”

It added that it had ensured immediate reactivation of all animal health components of the Emergency Preparedness Plan on bird flu for Nigeria, adding that the conduct of surveillance activities around infected areas to determine the level of spread of the disease were being undertaken.

FMARD said, “All stakeholders in the poultry industry are urged to enhance hygienic practices (bio-security measures) which include but not limited to regular disinfection, proper disposal of dead carcasses and poultry products and timely reporting of mortalities in poultry and other bird species to veterinary authorities.

“We wish to assure the public that given our experiences in handling previous outbreaks and with your full cooperation in the implementation of containment measures, we are determined to contain this disease again within a short time. We will keep you informed as events unfold.”

A veterinary doctor, Dr. Femi Oboye, said government must embark on a massive vaccination of birds at poultry farms across the country.

Source : http://www.punchng.com/news/bird-flu-hits-lagos-kano

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African Players playing for different European teams
Over the years, the issue of dual Nationalism has been a bone of contention in the round leather game. Many players have ditched there country of origin for another country, where some of them have preferred their countries of birth to the countries of their parents. Here’s a list of some players traceable to African Origin;

Ben Arfa (Tunisia) - France
Paul Pogba (Guinea) - France
Karim Benzema (Algeria) - France
Samir Nasri (Algeria) - France
Govou (Benin) - France
Zinedine Zidane (Algeria) - France

Luis Nani (Cape Verde) - Portugal
Christian Benteke (DRC) -Belgium
Jerome Boateng (Ghana) Germany
David Alaba (Nigeria) - Austria
Oguchi Onyewu (Nigeria) - USA
Angelo Ogbonna (Nigeria) - Italy
Dennis Aogo (Nigeria) - Germany
Okaka Chuka (Nigeria) - Italy
Gabriel Agbonlahor (Nigeria) -Scotland
Patrick Owemoyela (Nigeria) -
Germany
Nedum Onuoah (Nigeria) -England
Patrick Vieira (Senegal) - France Mousa Dembele(Mali) - Belgium
Romelo Lukaku (DRC) - Belgium
Sami Khedira (Tunisia) - Germany
Vincent Kompany (Congo) Belgium
Danny Welbeck (Ghana) - England
Mario Balotelli (Ghana) - Italy
Mamadou Sakho (Guinea) -France
Bacary Sagna (Senegal) - France
Patrice Evra (Guinea) - France El Shaarawy(Egypt) -Italy
Dirick Origi (Kenya) - Belgium
Ramires Makukula (Swaziland) -Brazil

Imagine all these players playing for the above named African Countries...