With the Christmas three days away, there is palpable fear in the land over the outbreak of the deadly Charcoal Anthrax disease in sheep and cattle in neighbouring Niger Republic.
This is as experts say over 40 per cent of the sheep and cattle eaten in the country are from Niger, Nigeria’s next door neighbour in the north, adding that there is free movement of animals across Nigeria’s international frontiers in that area.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the Nigeria Customs Service had in their respective alerts to their officers on the outbreak of the deadly anthrax disease urged them to exercise vigilance on the movement of the animals from Niger Republic into the country.
The Nigeria Customs Service in circular to its officers across the country, signed by the Controller Enforcement, Comptroller Victor Dimka on behalf of the Deputy Comptroller-General in-charge of Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection said: “The headquarters received a report which reveals that the Nigerien Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock had notified the World Organisation for Animal Health of an outbreak of Charcoal Anthrax disease, Bacterium Bacillus Anthracis variant, in sheep and cattle in the country.” Read more