Minister receives threats for raising bird flu alarm

The Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, Dr. Taiga is alleged to have received death threats from influential poultry farm owners for raising an alarm on a possible resurfacing of Bird flu, or avian influenza in Yaounde; The Cameroon Journal learned.

A source who refused to be named, told The Cameroon Journal that the threats are coming from some members of gov’t who are themselves major suppliers of chickens in Yaounde. They are concerned that the alarm being raised would result to a drop in sales of their poultry products.

Officials of the Yaounde-based giant poultry (known as Complexe Avicole de Mvog-Betsi) in which the virus was first discovered are reported to equally be fuming by government’s mass killing of some 15, 000 chickens after it was discovered that bird flu had previously killed another 15,000 in the farm within a week.

We also gathered that the brain behind the poultry is a foreign national whose assistant is a highly influential personality at the presidency.

Contacted to comment on the death threats, the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Livestock, Leon Bernard Gara, said the personalities who are complaining are angry because they are being selfish.

“They are only concerned about making money. They do not care about the welfare of the entire population. When a case of bird flu or any contagious disease is discovered, it is primordial that measures be taken to contain it so that the disease doesn’t spread”, he told The Journal, adding that in the case of bird flu, the regulation holds that all other chickens which are likely to have been in contact with those infected by the flu should die.

He stressed that the minister’s decision is in accordance with the provisions of the law.

A marketing agent of the Complexe Avicole de Mvog-Betsi confirmed to The Cameroon Journal that the poultry farm was temporarily shut down after all the chickens were killed.

Quizzed whether employees of the enterprise had their contracts terminated, the seemingly dejected marketing agent preferred not to comment further.

Unconfirmed sources say it took the minister closed to two weeks to announce the incident because it involved powerful personalities who did not want the public to be aware of the discovery that could dwindle the sales of chicken of which they are among the major suppliers.

Observers are conjecturing that the authorisation for the May 25 press conference must have come from a higher patriotic authority at the presidency.

It should be recalled that the Minister of Livestock, Dr. Taiga, Public Health Minister, Andre Mama Fouda and Communication Minister, Issa Tchiroma Backary had said at the press conference that it was on May 22 that the epidemic surveillance network noticed an abnormal high mortality rate of fowls at the poultry.

The National Veterinary Laboratory (LANAVET) annex later confirmed the deaths were caused by the Avian Influenza virus strain (H5N1).

Going by Tchiroma, Prime Minister Philemon Yang held an emergency meeting and ordered measures should be taken to avert the spread of the virus reason for the mass killing of the chickens.

Meanwhile, government is said to be monitoring citizens who bought chickens from the poultry between May 16 and 22.The Livestock Minister has equally urged poultry owners to notify authorities if they discover any suspected cases in their farms.