Cameroon's health ministry aids in preventing the spread of H5N1 virus

The Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries and the Minister of Public Health announce: In the framework of the Control of the Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 declared at the Mvog-Betsi Poultry Farming Complex in Yaoundé on the 24 May 2016, the Government took measures to control the spreading of the disease and to monitor the disease as well as people at risk.

A decision of the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries declaring the infection was signed on the 26 May 2016. International organizations were notified.

Following national health surveillance and epidemiological investigations carried out, secondary outbreaks were identified in Mvila Division (South Region), Koung-Khi and Mifi Divisions (West Region), and in Djerem Division (Adamawa Region).

To date, in the affected poultry farms, about Fifty-four Thousand (54 000) fowls have been slaughtered, denatured and buried. Decontamination and hygiene measures have been applied in these sources of infection. The different zones concerned are monitored daily.

Teams of the Ministry of Public Health have followed-up Four Hundred and Seventy-four (474) exposed persons and no case of human influenza from avian origin has been detected. The overall assessment presents a situation under control.