By Stella Odueme
The Federal Government, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and other stakeholders, has intensified efforts to prevent and contain Avian Influenza (bird flu) in Nigeria through the deployment of a predictive disease surveillance tool.
The initiative, known as the Avian Influenza Decision Support Tool (AI-DST), is designed to strengthen disease prediction, early warning and preparedness by identifying potential outbreak hotspots before cases emerge.
The Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria (CVON), Dr. Samuel Anzaku, disclosed this during a four-day national workshop and training on the tool in Abuja.
According to a statement by Ogochukwu Igboamalu for the Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations Department, on Thursday, Anzaku explained that the technology integrates animal mobility indicators, community-based reporting, migratory bird pathways, live bird market hotspots and risk scenarios to predict possible outbreaks, monitor disease transmission and assess their economic implications.
He said Kano and Lagos States had been selected as pilot locations because of their high exposure to Avian Influenza.
According to him, the deployment represents a shift from reactive disease control to proactive surveillance and prevention, enabling authorities to identify potential outbreak locations and take preventive measures before the disease spreads.
The Chief Veterinary Officer stressed that the effectiveness of the predictive system would depend largely on the quality, consistency and timeliness of data supplied by stakeholders.
He expressed concern over inconsistent reporting of bird mortality across states, warning that poor data could undermine the accuracy of risk assessments.
Anzaku called for stronger collaboration among veterinary authorities, wildlife researchers, ecologists and ornithologists to improve monitoring of disease transmission at the wildlife-livestock interface.
He also described the initiative as a practical demonstration of the One Health approach, noting that effective disease prevention would require coordinated interventions involving veterinary services, environmental surveillance, market hygiene and human health monitoring.
Providing an overview of the disease burden, Anzaku disclosed that Nigeria recorded 1,096 outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza between 2015 and 2023, with approximately 6.9 million birds exposed and more than 5.7 million culled.
Earlier, the FAO Country Team Lead for Livestock in Nigeria, Dr. Otto Vianney, described the tool as a newly developed predictive system being introduced in Nigeria as a pilot initiative, with prospects for wider deployment across the region.
He said the technology would enable authorities to identify areas susceptible to outbreaks and implement targeted preventive interventions.
Vianney stressed that, in the absence of vaccination against Avian Influenza, improved biosecurity remained critical, urging stakeholders to implement preventive measures preferably three months before anticipated outbreaks.
In her presentation, the Senior Disease Ecology and Risk Modelling Expert and Project Coordinator at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Claudia Pittiglio, identified wildlife mobility and the wildlife-livestock interface, market and trade mobility, and scenario analysis as the three major pillars of the ELEVATE project.
She explained that data analysis and phylogenetic studies had indicated possible multiple introductions of the H5N8 strain from different wetlands where wild birds interact with domestic ducks.
Also speaking, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Vom, Plateau State, Dr. Dashe Yakubu, commended FAO for its sustained support for disease diagnosis and surveillance in Nigeria.
Yakubu called for stronger collaboration between the Institute and FAO to improve the country's capacity for disease prevention, early detection, diagnosis and control.
Other stakeholders from the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Environment, and Health and Social Welfare, as well as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service and National Park Service, reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening inter-agency cooperation.
The four-day workshop attracted approximately 44 participants from government institutions, research organisations, the private sector and other stakeholders across the poultry value chain.
The initiative is expected to strengthen Nigeria's disease intelligence and preparedness systems, protect poultry production and livelihoods, safeguard public health and promote a resilient livestock sector.