The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF) has ruled out the outbreak of a strange poultry disease in Masaka District, quelling fears sparked by the discovery of over 3,500 dead birds in the area.

The alarm was raised at the end of July 2024, when carcasses of poultry layers were found dumped at four sites in Masaka City.

The incident triggered widespread public concern, exacerbated by viral audio and visual content on social media claiming an outbreak of a mysterious poultry disease and advising against consuming chicken from the area.

In response, MAAIF, in collaboration with Masaka City officials and teams from the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources, and Biosecurity of Makerere University, investited the matter.

Presenting the findings during a plenary session on Thursday, 15 August 2024, the State Minister for Agriculture in charge of Animal Husbandry, Hon. Bright Rwamirama, clarified that the laboratory tests had ruled out any presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), newcastle disease (NCD), or infectious bursal disease (IBD).

"Laboratory results confirmed that the specimens were negative for the feared avian diseases. Instead, post-mortem reports indicated that the chickens suffered from bacterial pneumonia and had foreign particles in their lung tissues," he said of the birds that were being kept in poorly ventilated and maintained houses.

HPAI is known globally as the most dangerous poultry disease due to its potential to affect humans, as well as both wild and domestic birds. Although the other two disease do not impact humans, they are notorious for causing significant poultry fatalities.

Rwamirama emphasised that Uganda does not vaccinate against HPAI because the disease does not have an endemic presence in the country, unlike NCD and IBD, which are managed through routine vaccination in commercial poultry farms.

The investigation revealed that the mass death occurred at a single farm in Kalagala Village, Nyendo-Mukungwe sub-county.