The fight against the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza disease/ Bird flu outbreak in Ghana continues as more than 257,000 birds have been affected.
This shows a close to 100% increase in the number of birds affected since our last update in September when more than 130,000 birds had been culled due to the bird flu outbreak.
“Out of 8 regions, only 4 are recording cases. The Western North, Western, Upper West and Central Regions since September 20, have not recorded any new cases,” a Risk Communicator at the Veterinary Services Directorate, Dr Benjamin Sasu told GhanaFact.
Here is a regional breakdown of cases
| Regions | Farms | Total death recorded |
| Greater Accra | 45 | 54,202 |
| Ashanti | 18 | 127,025 |
| Central | 5 | 15,707 |
| Volta | 4 | 31,926 |
| Western | 1 | 3,000 |
| Western North | 5 | 21,049 |
| Upper West | 2 | 1,438 |
| Eastern | 2 | 2,921 |
| Total | 82 | 257,268 |
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Meanwhile, the Veterinary Services Directorate destroyed 195,362 birds out of the total number of dead birds, while the rest died through infection (naturally).
| Region | Natural deaths | Depopulation |
| Greater Accra | 25, 385 | 28,817 |
| Ashanti | 18, 351 | 108,674 |
| Central | 5, 036 | 10,671 |
| Volta | 1, 841 | 30,085 |
| Western North | 7, 796 | 13,253 |
| Western | 1, 000 | 2,000 |
| Upper West | 1, 216 | 222 |
| Eastern | 1, 281 | 1,640 |
| Total | 61,906 | 195,362 |
To ensure public safety, citizens are advised to:
- Report any unusual death of domestic poultry and wild birds to the nearest veterinary office and public authorities.
- Avoid the handling of dead birds with bare hands at all costs.
- Consume only well-cooked poultry meat and poultry products.
By: Gifty Tracy Aminu
