Panic grips Masaka poultry farmers as strange disease kills thousands of chickens

Veterinary authorities in Masaka City are investigating a strange disease that has hit the area, leaving thousands of domestic birds dead.

This follows the inexplicable mass death of chickens recorded in the villages of Kako, Kayija, Kasooka, and Mitemula in Nyendo–Mukungwe Municipality in Masaka City.

“We learned about this problem after thousands of carcasses were dumped at different locations in the city. We warn residents not to eat those birds and to stop buying roasted chicken from roadside markets for the time being,” Masaka City Health Officer, Dr Patrick Kasendwa, said in an interview on Thursday.

He said epidemiologists have collected fluids and droppings from the sick chickens in areas where mass poultry deaths have been reported. The samples were taken to the Uganda Virus Institute in Entebbe to establish what was killing the birds.

“We expect to get the results soon so that we can advise the poultry farmers on what they can do,” he added.

Dr Kasendwa said the district task force will meet before the end of this week to discuss the matter.

“By the end of the meeting, we expect to come out with resolutions that will help the farmers and the public regarding the outbreak,” he added.

Ms Anette Namigadde Kisakya Maria, a laboratory technologist at Masaka Regional Veterinary Laboratory, who was the first to issue the alert, advised residents to report any suspected sick birds to veterinary officers for a prompt response.

“We advise poultry farmers in the area whose birds are under the free-range system to keep them indoors to avoid catching the disease,” she said.

A casual laborer at one of the affected poultry farms in Kako, who preferred anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said they have lost over 100 birds to the strange disease since last week.

“We were instructed to dump the sick chickens at a certain swamp on the outskirts of the city. However, some people flocked to the area to collect those that were still alive, forcing us to set fire to heaps of dead birds to stop people from taking them,” he added.

In January 2017, the government reported an outbreak of bird flu along Lake Victoria shores in Lutembe, Wakiso District, Masaka, and Kalangala Districts. The virus was mostly reported in migratory birds and didn’t cross to domestic birds and humans.

Luckily, laboratory tests later showed that the type of avian flu that struck the country was of lower pathogenicity than the highly pathogenic avian influenza or avian flu (H5N1) reported earlier. Pathogenicity, according to medical experts, refers to the ability of the virus to produce disease.