Newcastle disease eradicated

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock announced that the incursion of virulent Newcastle disease of chickens in Rabaul reported in 2006 has been finally eradicated.
Minister for Agriculture and Livestock John Hickey was pleased to announce that the bird flu-like disease that affected chickens in Rabaul was finally eradicated, and credit was given to National Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority (NAQIA) for its effort.
Hickey, speaking yesterday at a parliament conference room said Newcastle disease of the chicken had resulted in the culling of more than 4,000 chickens since its first discovery in 2006.
In October 2006, a report of disease and mass deaths of village chickens in Rabaul were reported which prompted immediate response by veterinary officials from NAQIA to investigate.
Following tests done by the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, the cause of the disease and deaths in chickens was diagnosed to be virulent Newcastle disease.
The disease causes very high losses due to high mortality of chickens and leads to economic losses in poultry production.
Subsequently, East New Britain was declared “disease area” under the Animal Disease and Control Act, by the then agriculture minister Sasa Zibe.
To counter the disease, the ministry with the national government, allocated a total of K1 million for NAQIA officials to carry out the disease control activities.
NAQIA maintained containment and monitoring activities until June this year, when a structured surveillance activity was carried out for the purposes of proving that the disease had actually been eradicated, and that freedom from Newcastle disease had been attained.
Hickey, however, warned that the incursion of the disease might had been contained, and eradicated, but the threats and the risks of another incursion remain.
He challenged quarantine officers to be vigilant in order to protect against agricultural pests and diseases.