By Sarah NEGEDU
The FCT Agriculture & Rural Development Secretariat has disclosed plans to strengthen its disease surveillance, detection reporting and control system in order to mitigate the outbreak and spread of animal diseases in the territory.
Mandate Secretary of the secretariat, Mallam Abubakar Ibrahim, who made this known during a working visit to the FCT Veterinary Clinic at Nyanya, said the secretariat will also be exposing veterinary health officials to modern trends in disease surveillance and reporting.
Ibrahim however expressed satisfaction with the state of facilities at the clinic with particular reference to the diagnostic laboratory commissioned in 2021.
He commended the veterinary officials for efficiently managing the facilities at the laboratory which he noted was fully equipped to meet the needs of animal owners and livestock farmers in the FCT.
The secretary, therefore, advised animal owners and livestock farmers in the FCT to desist from patronizing quack clinics, noting that, “As you can see, the facilities here are state of the art and comparable to the best anywhere in the world. I therefore would like to call on residents to patronize the clinics in order to access quality animal Healthcare”
Speaking on the issue of disease prevention and control, the secretary disclosed that the secretariat, through the Department of Veterinary Services, has strengthened its surveillance system to enhance its capacity to detect and combat the outbreak and spread of animal diseases.
“We intend to build the capacities of our veterinary health officials and doctors to expose them to the modern trends in disease surveillance and reporting,” Abubakar said.
