The Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Municipality of the Western North Region has recorded an outbreak of Bird-flu, affecting about 6,000 birds.

Dr Valentine Opoku, the Municipal Veterinary officer at Bibiani, who confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency, said the disease was detected in a farm and samples were taken to the laboratory and confirmed on August 20, 2021.

The Centre for Disease Control indicated that the disease was caused by infection with Avian Influenza type A virus.

He said 4,000 birds died naturally on the farm while the Veterinary Services Department depopulated 2,000 birds, adding, "crates of eggs and fomites were also destroyed as they could serve as a source of transmission of the disease."

He advised the residents to report any unusual death of domestic poultry and wild birds to the nearest veterinary office or clinic.

He asked the public to avoid handling dead birds with their bare hands and only consume well-cooked poultry meat and poultry products.

He, however, urged residents not to panic because the Veterinary Department had taken the necessary steps to contain the outbreak of the disease.

Touching on compensation, he explained that "it would be done by the government and we would plead with the necessary stakeholders to speed up the processes so that the affected farmer could have some relief."

Dr Opoku stressed that the Veterinary Services Department would continue to educate farmers in the Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Municipality on the need to adhere to bio-security and bio-safety protocols.