The Kwara State government has commenced a statewide sensitisation campaign on the prevention and control of anthrax disease with stakeholders engagement and inspection of some of the abattoir markets and slaughter slabs in Ilorin, the state capital.
The team, which comprised officials from the state ministries of health, environment, agriculture and rural development and led by the permanent secretary in the ministry of health, Dr Abubakar Ayinla sensitised butchers and other stakeholders in the livestock value chain on implications of anthrax disease for the wellbeing of the people.
Ayinla explained that the exercise was one of the preventive measures being taken by the government to curb the spread of anthrax in the state.
He appealed to butchers and value chain operators in the livestock business to ensure that only healthy animals are slaughtered for the consumption of the public, advising them to maintain a hygienic environment.
Ayinla urged the stakeholders to cooperate with the state inspection team, with a view to ensuring the safety of the public against any form of zoonotic diseases in the state.
The permanent secretary in the ministry of environment, Mrs. Elizabeth Samuel, urged the stakeholders, especially the slaughter slab operators and butchers, to maintain a hygienic environment to prevent outbreak of diseases.
She advised them to ensure proper disposal of wastes by patronizing only registered waste management consultants.
In his remarks, the director of veterinary services, ministry of agriculture and rural development, Dr AbdulLateef Olugbon, disclosed that anthrax is a zoonotic disease that can be contacted through an infected animal or a contaminated animal products like hides and skin.
Olugbon said the exercise was to sensitize the stakeholders on the outbreak of anthrax in neighbouring countries and the need to prevent it from entering the country.
