Lois Beckett
18 July 2007
Accra — By 5 a.m. each morning, Joseph Hillmends has arrived at one of the poultry farms near Accra. He stops 100 meters from the farm's entrance to put on a white jumpsuit, gloves, a facemask and green plastic goggles.
On hot days, this outfit can be stifling. But he needs the protection. Hillmends is a principal bird technician, and his job is to investigate farms for signs of avian influenza-bird flu.
Ghana has had an avian influenza task force in place since 2005. Publicity campaigns-many featuring volunteers in chicken suits-was used to educate the public about the disease. Posters in cheerful colors advised that "Only you can stop bird flu."
Farmers were given recommendations about how to protect against the spread of the disease. Phone hotlines were set up to ensure that any signs of the disease could be quickly reported.
So when the first outbreak of bird flu surfaced in Tema in April 2007, scientists and officials were ready to spring into action. A rapid test for bird flu was carried out, and the H5N1 virus was detected.
"Within hours, we were on the farm," the Director of Veterinary Hospital Dr. Agyen-Frempong said.
To deal with the bird flu, infected chickens are burned and buried in deep holes. Then farms are disinfected for free by the government, which also compensates farmers for the infected chickens and chicken products they have to exterminate.
Farmers receive 85 percent of the market price for destroyed broilers and layers, 60 percent for fertile eggs and 50 percent for table eggs, Dr. Agyen-Frempong said.
This compensation is in line with international standards for dealing with bird flu. Dr. Agyen-Frempong said that governments cannot afford to pay farmers the full market price when they have to destroy tens of thousands of potentially infected chickens.
So far, Ghanaian farmers who experienced outbreaks have been given a total of 1.5 billion cedis.
Officials acknowledged that, even with government compensation, farmers whose flocks are hit by bird flu experience heavy economic losses.
Meanwhile, Joseph Hillmends and other inspectors continue their work, visiting an estimated 30 farms a week across Ghana to look for signs of another outbreak.
It's not an easy job, especially in the heat. On the worst days, Hillmends and others wear in only boxers beneath their protective suits.
At first, Hillmends' job made his family nervous about possible infection. "When I got home, they were scared," he said. He has explained the precautions that he takes, and now they have relaxed.
The family no longer keeps any chickens of their own. But his constant vigilance over avian flu has not stopped Hillmends from eating chicken. "It's my favorite," he said, "and I still enjoy them."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 Accra Mail. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
