Nigerian Journalists Learn About Avian Influenza

This article details avian flu workshops that were held for journalists in January 2007 in Kano, Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria. The workshops, organised by Voice of America in partnership with Internews and the Lagos-based Development Communications Network, were designed to educate and inform Nigerian journalists about bird flu. The journalists traveled to poultry markets, conducted interviews with poultry sellers, farmers and veterinarians and learned about what people can do to protect themselves from bird flu.

According to Dan Rutz, an official at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the role of journalists should be to help prevent the spread of bird flu by educating and informing people about the disease. He urged journalists to be mindful of the language they use when reporting about bird flu as journalists play an important role in shaping public opinion.

In Nigeria, the first official case of bird flu was confirmed in February 2006, and the virus has since been detected in birds in 18 states. The Nigerian government has begun to combat the disease by educating poultry farmers and the public on proper bird handling techniques, culling sick birds, providing compensation to farmers for culled birds and improving reporting and surveillance around the disease.

According to Dr. Kayode Oyeleye, a veterinarian in Lagos, Nigeria still faces many challenges in preventing the spread of avian influenza. Some of these challenges include: lack of biosecurity; weak surveillance; cross-border poultry trading; inadequate compensation to farmers with sick birds; poor infrastructure; and informal, backyard farming.