A wildlife conservation expert, Dr Mark Ofua.
The Federal Government has been urged to enact and enforce laws protecting snakes and other wildlife species as part of efforts to reduce the spread of Lassa fever and other zoonotic diseases in Nigeria.
A wildlife conservation expert, Dr Mark Ofua, made the call during a media chat to commemorate World Zoonoses Day on Saturday.
He warned that the indiscriminate killing of snakes and other natural predators had contributed to the proliferation of disease-carrying rodents.
According to Ofua, who is also a veterinarian, snakes play a critical role in controlling rat populations, particularly the multimammate rats that transmit the Lassa fever virus to humans.
