Africa-Press – Botswana. There are currently no new cases of Avian Influenza detected in Satau.
Chobe District acting agricultural coordinator, Dr Tichaona Aaron revealed in an interview that a surveillance exercise was conducted in Satau where they followed close to 7 000 birds and it was established that there were no other cases except for the 70 birds in that one particular backyard chicken facility. This follows an outbreak of the avian influenza commonly known as bird flu detected in a backyard chicken facility in Satau, Chobe District
However, the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture has intensified control measures against the spread by enforcing a mandatory restriction of movement of the birds from Chobe District to the rest of the country.
Dr Aaron said the district office received a report of birds showing signs of the disease in June upon which samples were collected and tested at the lab.
He said the birds presented symptoms of swelling of the heads and face, discoloration of the comb, loss of appetite, diarrhea, nasal discharges and mortality. He indicated that due to its high mortality rate, some of the birds died on their own while the remaining infected were culled to contain the disease.
He pointed out that the H5N1 strain that was detected in Chobe was mild in comparison to other strains of avian influenza.
However, he stated that the diseases posed a danger of being transmitted to humans, cattle and other mammals.
“It is a very dangerous disease because if not controlled it can spread to humans and other species through contact with infected material and as a respiratory disease it can also spread aero source or airborne,” said Dr Aaron. The veterinarian highlighted that they were conducting outreach programmes to raise awareness in Satau and the rest of Chobe District about the symptoms of the disease and further encourage people to report any suspicion of the disease to the authorities.
Dr Aaron remarked that the avian flu outbreak posed a high risk to poultry production hence noted that it was essential to ensure that no further cases were recorded.He explained that there was an unseasonal migration of birds observed this year where birds settled in Botswana during winter rather than migrating up North of Africa and Europe as per their migration patterns.
He stated that in Satau there was a collection of surface water from the heavy rainfall this season hence chickens from the affected facility free ranged to the water bodies and interacted with wild birds.
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