Nigeria’s livestock industry is operating without the robust disease intelligence needed to prevent devastating outbreaks, as poor reporting systems, weak state laboratories and the exclusion of private veterinary facilities continue to undermine national surveillance, leading veterinary experts have warned.
The experts said unless the country urgently integrates public and private laboratories into a single national disease surveillance network, livestock diseases will continue to spread undetected, threatening food security, public health and billions of naira in agricultural investments.
The warning came at the Public-Private Veterinary Laboratory Forum on Strengthening Poultry Disease Surveillance in Nigeria, organised by the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, where stakeholders described the country’s current surveillance architecture as fragmented and inadequate for modern disease control.
Director of Infectious and Transboundary Animal Diseases at the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Dr. Clement Meseko, said the country’s biggest challenge is not the absence of expertise but the inability to capture disease information from where outbreaks actually begin.
According to him, although NVRI remains Nigeria’s apex reference laboratory for animal diseases, the institute can only be effective if disease reports flow from farms, communities and veterinary clinics across the country.
“Our mandate covers research, surveillance, diagnosis and vaccine production for the control of infectious animal diseases in Nigeria,” he said.
Meseko noted that private veterinary laboratories are often the first institutions to receive samples from affected farms, making them indispensable partners in disease surveillance.
“We are at the apex as the National Reference Laboratory, but we can be very far from the grassroots where surveillance data is generated. Until government laboratories and private laboratories work together, surveillance cannot be effectively strengthened.”
He explained that under an integrated system, disease samples would move seamlessly from private laboratories through state and zonal facilities before arriving at NVRI for confirmation, creating a real-time national surveillance chain.
“By the time we gather data from all these sources, Nigeria will have robust information that can be used for planning and effective disease control.”
Meseko urged government to invest in private veterinary laboratories through training, incentives and stronger institutional partnerships to improve surveillance coverage nationwide.
But GALVmed Country Manager, Dr. Moses Arokoye, identified what he described as the country’s most dangerous blind spot.
“The gap here is reporting. The reporting system is poor—very, very poor,” he declared.
According to him, many livestock disease outbreaks never enter Nigeria’s official records because they are simply not reported.
“If an event is not recorded, it means it didn’t happen. There could be outbreaks and incidences, but if they are not documented, they simply do not exist in the national records.”
Arokoye said the forum was convened to end the long-standing disconnect between government laboratories and private diagnostic facilities by creating a harmonised national reporting framework.
He explained that disease outbreaks usually leave detectable patterns before escalating into emergencies.
“Outbreaks don’t just happen overnight. There are patterns over time, and once those patterns are identified, Nigeria will be better prepared to respond before diseases spread.”
He disclosed that directors of veterinary teaching hospitals from Nigeria’s 11 veterinary faculties, officials of NVRI and major private laboratories are working towards integrating disease reports into the National Animal Disease Information System (NADIS).
“What government wants is robust national data. We cannot continue to work in silos. We must harmonise disease reporting between the public and private sectors.”
Adding a policy dimension to the debate, President of the Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN), Prof. Matthew Adamu, warned that Nigeria’s disease surveillance reforms would achieve little unless state governments strengthen veterinary laboratories closer to livestock producers.
While acknowledging NVRI’s international recognition as a reference laboratory by the World Organisation for Animal Health, Adamu said the real weakness lies in the collapse of laboratory capacity below the federal level.
“We have a serious challenge at the sub-national level. We need to build and strengthen laboratories in the states and, where possible, at the local government level because livestock production actually takes place at those levels.”
He called for urgent investment in veterinary teaching hospitals, laboratory equipment and human capacity development.
“We need our veterinary teaching hospitals to be properly equipped. State laboratories also need to be strengthened. Personnel must be employed, trained and retrained so they can perform at the level required internationally.”
Adamu described the gathering as a strategic convergence of scientists and policymakers determined to reposition Nigeria’s livestock sector through stronger disease surveillance.
He argued that effective laboratory networks would not only improve animal health but also enhance food security, increase livestock productivity and boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.
Across the forum, one message resonated clearly: without reliable disease reporting, coordinated laboratory networks and stronger state-level capacity, Nigeria will continue to react to outbreaks rather than prevent them. The experts insisted that integrating federal, state and private veterinary laboratories into a single surveillance ecosystem is no longer optional but essential to safeguarding the nation’s livestock industry and agricultural economy