Plateau denies deaths of 1,000 cows to strange disease

The Plateau State Government has denied the story making the rounds that over 1,000 cows have died of a strange disease within a space of four days in some villages in Mangu LGA of the state.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that there has been a trending story on social media and in some national dailies on the reported deaths of cows.

But the Plateau State Government in a statement by the Director of Press and Public Affairs to the Governor, Gyang Bere, said the story was not true.

“The attention of the Plateau State Government has been drawn to a story published in some national newspapers and trending on social media that over 1,000 cows died of a strange disease within a space of four days in some villages in Mangu Local Government Area of the state.

• Community accuses traditional rulers of land grabbing in Bauchi
• NANS rejects fee hike in higher institutions, threatens protest

“The said story is far from the truth, as it does not reflect the reality of hapapenings in the communities mentioned conspicuously in the story. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no such incident in any part of Mangu Local Government Area and the government has not received information about the mass death of animals from any of the communities mentioned in the reports.

“The story is based on hearsay, and there is no credible source that has authenticated the story, which has created tension in the affected communities,” he said.

The government urged the public, particularly members of the said communities, to disregard the misleading story and assured Plateau people that a team of epidemiologists have been sent to the affected communities on the instruction of Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang to ascertain the truth of the story to prevent loss of lives.

“However, there are two suspected cases of anthrax disease in two communities in the state. The samples have been taken to National Veterinary Research Institute Vom for thorough assessment and further investigation.

“While waiting for the outcome, government would like to make it clear that there was no mass death of 1,000 cows in the mentioned areas as reported in the story,” the statement said.