The Poultry Farmers Association of Ghana has assured consumers of chicken not to panic over news that the deadly Avian Flu is in the country.

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture on Wednesday announced that test results of samples of reported Avian Flu cases taken to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Laboratory in Italy proved positive.

The Deputy sector Minister, Dr. Hannah Bissiw said despite threats of the spread of the virus from birds to humans, her Ministry and other relevant stakeholders are capable of containing the virus. She said there is no cause for alarm.

The Poultry Farmers Association of Ghana is also allaying the fears of chicken consumers that the situation is under control.

President of the Association, Oppong Adjei said “We’ve already put things in place; surveillance were already in place when it came to Burkina Faso so we were ready because once Burkina Faso is our neighbor, the virus can come to Ghana at any time.”

According to him, since news broke a few weeks ago that there was an outbreak of the virus in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Ghana, poultry farmers met to strategize on how to prevent the spread of the virus.

Mr. Adjei said poultry farmers have been ordered to intensify their boundary security measures. He recalled that when the virus was detected, “it came to one farm in Tema and I understand there is a backyard at Achimota but so far it has not spread to other places.”