Ogun state government has directed all farm owners with more than 250 birds to register with the Ministry of Agriculture folowing the report of the outbreak of Avian Influenza in a poultry farm at Ilugun Local Council Development Area of the State.

It also ordered hatchery operators, live-bird markets and poultry processing facilities in the state to register with the same ministry.

This move the ministry said was in accordance with Animal Disease Control Act 2004.

The registration which it said will commence immediately was in collaboration with the state chapter of Poultry Association of Nigeria.

The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Adepeju Adebajo, said this new step would allow the state to have updated database of the poultry and other value-chain operators in the poultry business.

She said, “This will bring about better control of zoonotic and endemic diseases in the state.”

Adebajo also said the registration would also put into focus farms that were entitled to compensation in case of outbreak of zoonotic diseases like the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza.