KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC):
THE ST. VINCENT and the Grenadines government has stopped the importation of live chickens into the country as the authorities seek to deal with the high mortality on poultry farms across this country.
But pathologist, Dr. Julian Richard, said the deaths were not due to the outbreak of the Bird Flu virus that has killed a number of people in Asia.
He attributes the deaths to a nutritional problem.
The Ministry of Agriculture here has since stopped the importation of live birds and said it would be conducting tests to determine the exact cause of the nutritional deficiencies.
Since October 2004, poultry farmers have lost as much as 80 per cent of their broilers stock and agriculture officials Monday said the situation was now affecting chickens at the adult stages of their lives.
The situation has seriously impacted the supply of fresh chicken on the local market.
"In talking to the farmers, it is quite obvious that what is happening is a disaster for the poultry farmers. This is very serious if not an epidemic. If we don't solve it, they (poultry farmers) are going to go out of business," Dr. Richard told a news conference attended by agricultural officials on Monday.
