Performance of Avian Influenza Surveillance System, Ogun State Nigeria, 2015-2019

Background: In 2019, two Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N8) outbreaks in poultry establishments in Bulgaria, two of wild birds in Denmark and one low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) A(H5N3) in captive birds in the Netherlands were reported. Nigeria recorded the first outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in February 2006 in a commercial poultry farm. Nigerian Pandemic Preparedness and Action Plan for Avian Influenza were then used to respond. Although influenza sentinel surveillance has been established in several African countries including Nigeria, data about the performance of established surveillance systems are limited on the continent. We described the avian influenza (AI) surveillance system in Ogun State, accessed veterinary health workers and farmers knowledge, evaluated all its attributes and made recommendations to improve the AI surveillance system. Methods: We adopted 2001 CDC Updated Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems. We reviewed and analyzed passive surveillance data from Ogun State Ministry of Agric, key informant interviews were conducted for relevant stakeholders at the state level and Local Government divisional veterinary clinics and farms to obtain additional information on the operations of the system.