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Dr. Hanna Bisiw, Deputy Food and Agriculture Minister in-charge of Livestock, has assured Ghanaians that it is safe to consume the local poultry.

This comes amid reported outbreak of the avian influenza (bird flu) in Tema.

The Deputy Minister insisted that this had been contained and that there was no cause for any anxiety.

She was addressing separate meetings with live birds’ sellers at the Kumasi Central Market and the Railways Station during a day’s visit to the region to address the bird flu scare.

The government, she stated had made available the necessary logistics – vehicles and chemicals, to fight any outbreak of the disease.

Dr. Bisiw again spoke of compensation payment to affected farmers to aid them to re-start their business.

She took time to take the people through the symptoms of the influenza and the signs to look for once they were on the poultry farm.  

She rallied consumers to give preference to the local poultry rather than imported frozen chicken, the origin and conditions of which were unknown.

That these imported meat products were less expensive compared with the price of the local poultry should not deceive anybody.

The people called for increased public education on the disease and loans at concessionary interest rate to affected farmers.