A Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Hannah Bissiw, has allayed fears of an outbreak of bird flu in the country.
[contextly_sidebar id=”gt1GvnjzHJ27EhvSTxkXM10mDNjCwqNz”]She said the Ministry can confirm that samples of some suspected cases have been taken to a laboratory in Italy and results are yet to be made known.
Some media reports on Wednesday said the five out of six sample tests conducted by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Research proved positive for the bird flu virus.
But speaking to Citi News, the Minister said it is too early to make conclusions since the results of the tests are not in.
Hannah Bissiw however advised the general public to take necessary precaution.
“Birds were taken to Noguchi Memorial Institute following mortalities that were reported from some farms and they isolated H5. Samples were further taken yesterday to a laboratory in Italy at noon yesterday. We are waiting for the results to come from Italy before we can confirm any case. It is not confirmed yet, so now it is just suspected cases. What we are doing now is to stick to the precautionary measures outlined by the veterinary services,” she added.
“If is it confirmed that it is a bird flu, we will hold a press conference to make it known to the general public.”
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture had earlier banned the importation of poultry products from Burkina Faso as a result of a recent outbreak of Avian Influenza Bird Flu in that country.
Avian Influenza popularly known as bird flu is caused by many different strains of influenza viruses that have adapted to a specific host.
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Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana