(Eagle News) — The Department of Agriculture on Monday (August 14) assured that the current bird flu outbreak in a town in Pampanga is the kind that is not transferrable to humans, as it announced a ban of poultry products, eggs and live birds from Luzon to Visayas and Mindanao as a “precautionary measure.”
As of Monday, only 19,000 poultry birds in San Luis, Pampanga – the area of the bird flu outbreak – had been culled because of delays due to lack of information on the bird flu in Pampanga that had scared many farm workers hired for the culling operations.
Agriculture secretary Manny Piñol said that the culling started Saturday.
“There was a bit of delay. This is the first time that we are experiencing this problem. And obviously, a lot of people still do not understand what should be done and how this problem should be handled,” he said in a press conference Monday where he also corrected media reports that 100,000 poultry birds had already been culled or killed in a “humane way”.
Piñol also that the DA had imposed a ban of poultry products in Luzon from being transported to Visayas and Mindanao, even as he clarified that the current bird flu outbreak in the town of San Luis in Pampanga could not be transmitted to humans.
Ban on poultry movement from Luzon to Visayas, Mindanao
Still, the Department of Agriculture felt it is better to impose a ban of “live domestic and live birds from mainland Luzon to Visayas and Mindanao” with the issuance of the memorandum circular 9 series of 2017 on Monday, August 14.
“In view of the avian influenza outbreak in the province of Pampanga, and to prevent further spread of the disease to other parts of Luzon and to Visayas and MIndanao, there is a need to ban the movement of live domestic and wild birds including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and manure from mainland Luzon and the island provinces of Luzon to Visayas and Mindanao,” said Piñol citing the Memorandum Circular signed by Assistant Secretary Dr. Enrique Garzon Jr.
No movement of live domestic and wild bird, including poultry meat and eggs, shall be allowed from Luzon to Visayas and Mindanao, he said.
But since Visayas and MIdanao are free from avian influenza, poultry, eggs, and birds from these islands would be allowed to enter Luzon.
And only poultry and eggs from outside the seven kilometer radius from San Luis town in Pampanga, would be allowed to be transported to other areas within Luzon.
But these birds, including chicken, ducks, quail, pigeons, should have shipping permits and a veterinary health certificate that would state that these came from “farms with no incident of avian influenza 21 days prior to shipment,” Piñol said.
“Within the 7 kilometer (radius), we will not kill the chickens or the fowl, but we will not allow the transport outside the 7 km radius,” Piñol said.
“Outside of that, it’s business as usual. Precautionary measure lang ito,” he said.
“We’re not saying that the virus has spread outside of the seven kilometer-radius.”
“In as far as the presence of the bird flu in San Luis is concerned, it has been confirmed by four laboratory tests,” Piñol said.
Samples sent to Australia for more tests
But this is not the type that is transmissible from animals to human beings, he said.
Dr. Arlene Vytiaco, head of the animal disease control section of the Bureau of Animal Industry, said that they have sent samples of the affected birds to Australia for genetic sequencing.
This is to determine the H5 strain for the bird flu that hit San Luis in Pampanga.
“We still have to know the N component. Definitely for N1 negative po yan. Ipapadala po natin sa Australia for genetic sequencing,” Dr. Vytiaco said.
“Until then, doon lang natin malaman kung highly pathogenic or low pathogenic and tumama sa atin,” she said in the presscon.
She said the culling would be finished in five to six days.
So far, the total number of birds culled or killed were 18,685.
The problem was the lack of manpower.
Farm workers afraid of infection
Piñol added that even those workers whom they have trained and hired for the culling became afraid that they would be infected and escaped.
“Akala nila delikado sa buhay nila,” said Dr. Vytiaco.
She said the department hired more than 30 men for the culling information, but only five remained.
These workers have already been immunized for bird flu, but because of lack of information, they thought that they too would be quarantined, or get “culled” too, Piñol said.
“Ang natira lang limang tao, nagkulang po tayo ng mga maghahawak sa mga manok,” Dr. Vytiaco said.
Kami na po ang nagbrief sa kanila, para huwag na sila matakot. Lahat bakunado, bago sila pumasok sa farm,” she said.
