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<TABLE width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Monday, Jan 22, 2007
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Journalists have been advised to always report cases of avian influenza (AI) and other related issues ?responsibly without sensationalising them?.
The advice is contained in a communique issued at the end of a sensitisation workshop on the prevention and control of the Avian Influenza.
The workshop was organised for reporters by the Lagos State government in collaboration with UNICEF.
? Journalists should not report such cases without thorough investigations, so as not to create additional problems for the people,? the communique stated.
Participants at workshop, which was attended by 40 journalists from both the print and electronic media, called for the establishment of AI desks in the various media houses to monitor reports on Avian Influenza outbreak.
They also called on the state governments to organise seminars, as part of the programme to sensitise people on the existence of the virus, which had claimed more lives than wars throughout the world.
Dr Mobolaji Akerele, UNICEF field officer for Zone B said the AI virus was virulent and pandemic in nature.
?The virus killed 50 million people between 1916 and 1917 worldwide. It killed two million between 1957 and 1958, and between 1968 and 1969, the virus killed one million people,? Akerele said The UNICEF field officer identified importation of day old chicks and birds migration from one region to another as the sources through which AI spread. He explained that the virus could be contracted through inhalation and physical contact through animal to animal, animal to human or through man to man.
Akerele said that avian influenza virus had been detected in 14 states of Nigeria, including Lagos State, adding that it had been detected in 26 farms in eight local government areas of Lagos State.
Dr Oluwatoyin Owolana, a veterinary surgeon, who confirmed that the AI virus was real and deadly, urged Nigerians to be wary of their environment and how they relate with their poultry products.
?It is a contagious disease that is associated with poultry, it can be contracted through contact with chickens, ducks, geese and even pigs,? he said. Owolana, however, advised journalists to educate the people through their reports on the dangers associated with avian influenza and measures to prevent its spread.
http://www.thetidenews.com/article.a...olumn=BUSINESS
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</TD></TR><TR><TD>
Journalists have been advised to always report cases of avian influenza (AI) and other related issues ?responsibly without sensationalising them?.
The advice is contained in a communique issued at the end of a sensitisation workshop on the prevention and control of the Avian Influenza.
The workshop was organised for reporters by the Lagos State government in collaboration with UNICEF.
? Journalists should not report such cases without thorough investigations, so as not to create additional problems for the people,? the communique stated.
Participants at workshop, which was attended by 40 journalists from both the print and electronic media, called for the establishment of AI desks in the various media houses to monitor reports on Avian Influenza outbreak.
They also called on the state governments to organise seminars, as part of the programme to sensitise people on the existence of the virus, which had claimed more lives than wars throughout the world.
Dr Mobolaji Akerele, UNICEF field officer for Zone B said the AI virus was virulent and pandemic in nature.
?The virus killed 50 million people between 1916 and 1917 worldwide. It killed two million between 1957 and 1958, and between 1968 and 1969, the virus killed one million people,? Akerele said The UNICEF field officer identified importation of day old chicks and birds migration from one region to another as the sources through which AI spread. He explained that the virus could be contracted through inhalation and physical contact through animal to animal, animal to human or through man to man.
Akerele said that avian influenza virus had been detected in 14 states of Nigeria, including Lagos State, adding that it had been detected in 26 farms in eight local government areas of Lagos State.
Dr Oluwatoyin Owolana, a veterinary surgeon, who confirmed that the AI virus was real and deadly, urged Nigerians to be wary of their environment and how they relate with their poultry products.
?It is a contagious disease that is associated with poultry, it can be contracted through contact with chickens, ducks, geese and even pigs,? he said. Owolana, however, advised journalists to educate the people through their reports on the dangers associated with avian influenza and measures to prevent its spread.
http://www.thetidenews.com/article.a...olumn=BUSINESS
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