7,000 local birds immunized in Amansie West last year

The Amansie West District Directorate of Food and Agriculture in 2010 immunized seven thousand (7,000) local birds against the Newcastle disease, Dr Abert Henstock Kwansah Filson, the District Director, has said.

In addition, he said, two thousand (2,000) small ruminants, 1,610 sheep and 310 goats   and 915 pets, comprising 885 dogs and 30 cats were immunized against Pest des Petites Ruminants (PPR) and rabies respectively.

Dr Filson was speaking at the District launch of anti-rabies education campaign at Manso-Nkwanta in the Amansie West District.

In attendance were Directors of Education, teachers, Junior High School children and parents.

He said with the support of the Millennium Villages Project, the Directorate has produced the first Pet Register for the District.

The District Director, who is also a Veterinary Surgeon, said he has distributed over 5,000 pamphlets on rabies, printed at his own cost to the people and pledged to print more for other districts in the Region.

This was to create awareness on the impact of human and animal rabies, demonstrate how easy it was to prevent rabies and how to eliminate the main source of the disease.

Dr Filson said statistics has it that every year, 55,000 people die from rabies worldwide and approximately one person in every 10 minutes die from the disease especially in Africa and Asia.

“Over 40 per cent of those human deaths which can be prevented are children under 15 years of age”, he added

Mr Daniel Nkrumah, The District Coordinating Director, praised the Director for the initiative and pledged the Assembly’s support for the fight against the disease in the District.

Mr Samuel Kena, the District Education Director, advised that people keep alert on dog bites and what to do about the disease.

He urged dogs and other pet owners to send their animals for regular health checks and vaccination.

Source: GNA