Avian Influenza

Written by: Mir Aqa Itebar

According to the information provided by the Ministry of Agriculture of Afghanistan, there are approximately 11,000 poultry farms in Afghanistan and about one hundred and eighty-four thousand tons of chicken meat is produced annually from these farms. While keeping chickens has its benefits, but sometimes some diseases are fatal for chickens and cause economic problems for poultry farmers. One of these diseases is avian influenza If this disease is not prevented, all the chickens on a farm might be affected and might cause their death.

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some poultry farmers and a veterinarian about this disease.

Zarmina, a resident of Farza district, Kabul province says, “I started my poultry farm from 50 chickens and now I have about 800 chickens. At the beginning as I did have any experience in keeping chickens, one day in the morning, I saw that some chicken were sick and about 35 of them died and I faced loss.”

Another poultry farmer, Abdul Samad says, “I have a farm of 500 chickens. Once I lost about 30 of them due to flu.”

Abdul Qayum Shinwari, a veterinarian talks about this disease, “The signs of avian influenza are: fever, coughing, sneezing, nasal discharge and decreased egg production and they could not be fed. They lose their weight and it is possible to die about 50-60% of them.”

What do people think about the cause of avian influenza?

Zamina says, “I was always burning woods in a heater inside the poultry farm but one night I forgot to burn the heater and that night most of the chicken became infected with flu.”

Abdul Qayum Shinwari says, “Avian influenza in chickens has different causes. Some poultry farmers are not professionals. They do not apply flu vaccines on time to the chickens. They do not take care of the farm cleanliness. They build poultry farms near residential areas or roads. The smoke of cars also causes avian influenza. Some farmers mix the flu vaccine in water. Some chicken might not drink water and they would get flu and then this disease would spread to the other chickens too.”

How do poultry farmers treat avian influenza?

Zarmina says, “I separate the infected chicken from others and treat the infected chickens. If some of them dye, I dig the earth far from the poultry farm and I burry them in it and I always take care of the farm cleanliness.”

Mr. Shinwari says, “Prevent avian influenza, the poultry farmers should apply the vaccine on the 6th day of the hitching of the eggs to the chickens. They should put a drop of the vaccine in the chicken's eye, not in the water, as some chickens may not drink water. In the winter, the air inside the farm should be as warm as possible. They should make their farms away from the road. If any of the chickens get flu, the farmers should consult a veterinarian and he/she would prescribe them medicines for the chickens according to their disease. Feeding chickens with turnip, potato and boiled milk are very effective in preventing chicken form avian flu.”