Ghana has been hit by an avian influenza outbreak that has led to the culling of a number of 11,816 birds in Nyame Bekyere, and at Boankra, according to local media.
A ban has been placed on the export of poultry products from Boankra in the Ashanti Region and Nyame Bekyere in the Kwahu East District of the Eastern Region by the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) after the H5N1 virus was detected in two poultry farms from the regions.
The authorities are currently taking the necessary steps to protect public health.
Samples of the virus have already been sent to the laboratory of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) in Padova, Italy, for further testing, as reported by pulse.com.
The Head of Public Health and Food Safety, Veterinary Services of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Dr. Boi Kikimoto, explained that OIE’s laboratory is the only one certified to test the virus and “secondly, they will help provide the palindromic sequence of the bird flu gene for us.”
