By John Oba
Abuja
Nigerians involved in smuggling of frozen chicken has been warned to desist as it could resurface Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the country.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Federal Department of Animal Production and Husbandry Services in Abuja.
According to the statement, in spite of the ban on the importation of poultry and poultry products, frozen chicken had continued to find its way into local market through land border.
The statement quoted US Academic Decathlon Agricultural Information Network to have said 90 per cent of frozen chicken in Nigeria come in through the Republic of Benin and other West African Countries.
The statement blamed the decline in consumption of local chicken, jobs provided by the poultry industry and decrease of national income generated from the poultry sub-sector on the illegal trade.
The statement acknowledged that the sale of frozen chicken had become a means of livelihood for some Nigerians but stated that its continuous consumption pose great health risk.
It noted some factors put forward by Nutritionist for its health risk to include the length of storage of frozen chicken before reaching Nigeria.
It added that the quality was usually very low due to the break in cold chain during several hours of land journey in Nigeria through illegal rout and absence of quality certification or standard of instruments used.
The said besides the above factors, the recent outbreak EVD in some West African countries had shown that the handling of these products could transmit the disease.
According to the statement, people handling these frozen chicken were not known and there are no checks on the storage facility and the mode of transportation used.
The statement also claimed that the deaths caused by EVD and burial places may not have been properly reported in some of these West African countries.
It warned that Nigerians should not assumed that all affected West African countries had achieved 100 per cent tracking and control of EVD as Nigeria has scored
“It is on this note that the Federal Department of Animal Production and Husbandry Services is calling on Nigerians smuggling chicken to desist from doing so.
“The department is also calling on the Nigerian Custom Service to step up surveillance to further curb this illegal trade.
“Similarly, agricultural and health watchdogs must keep a vigilant eye on poultry product to prevent contaminants in the product”, the statement said.