(Eagle News) – The bird flu strain that hit Pampanga is H5N6, a strain of avian influenza that can be transmitted to humans, the Department of Agriculture said, citing confirmatory results of tests of affected samples that the Philippines had submitted to another country.
The government, however, said that the rate of transmission for such a strain is “very low.”
The agriculture department had earlier sent the samples from Pampanga of the affected poultry to Australia for testing to determine the bird flu strain that hit the country.
Dr. Arlene Vytiaco, head of the Animal Disease Control Section of the department’s Bureau of Animal Industry, said the test results from Australia showed the samples they had submitted were “positive for N6.”
“Based po sa results from the Australian (tests), na-test na po ito for the N subtype and it was positive for the N6,” she told reporters in a press briefing.
“H5N6 ang sinasabi na pwedeng ma-transmit, pero po ang rate of transmission is very, very low talaga,” she added.
Before this, Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol had been saying that the type of bird flu in the country was of the type that cannot be transmitted to humans.
