Stories of bird flu reduce intake of imported poultry in Upper West

Wa, March 2, GNA- There has been a drastic reduction in the sales of imported poultry in the Upper West Region since the announcement that the bird Flu disease was detected in Nigeria and Niger. While foreign Nationals in the region still buy the imported poultry products, Ghanaians were however moving away from consuming them to the domestic fowls.

Mr. Anthony Obiri Abangba, Manager of Weziena Cold Store in Wa who spoke in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said his weekly sales of one hundred (100) cartons a week had been reduced to about 40 cartons, thereby slowing down the market returns. He said the sale of fish had however shot up as a lot of the people now see it as a close substitute to the poultry in terms of nutrient requirements.

He said they have been educating the consumers on the care they have been taking to avoid the disease in the region. Madam Agnes Awati of Godagi Coldstore said her weekly sales of forty cartons a had also reduced to ten cartons, which was no longer encouraging.

She appealed to the media to help disseminate information on the disease as a lot of people were misleading consumers in the region. Haruna Dramani a domestic poultry seller however, confirmed to the average of 50 fowls a week.

Meanwhile the Ministries of Food and Agriculture and Health were stepping up educational programmes on the disease in the region. According to Mr. M.Y.B. Suglo, an official of the veterinary services of MoFA they were carrying out educational programmes all over the region to curb the misleading stories on the disease. March 2, 2006