Suspected bird flu cases reported in 2 Nueva Ecija towns

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) is verifying reports of a new avian flu outbreak – this time in Jaen and San Isidro, Nueva Ecija.

In a phone interview with The STAR, Joy Lagayan of BAI’s animal disease control division said they are set to conduct tests on chickens at poultry farms in the two towns.

Jessie Fantone, chief epidemiologist of the Department of Health (DOH) in Central Luzon, said he had also heard about the new avian flu cases and that he and his team are set to go to the Paulino Garcia Hospital in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija to brief hospital workers on avian flu related concerns.

The first avian flu outbreak was reported in San Luis, Pampanga.

Fantone also urged livestock raisers to isolate their animals from avian flu affected poultries. “Avian flu transmission to humans is rare but possible, so it is also possible that infected chickens can infect livestock,” he said.

The BAI is overseeing the culling of some 200,000 chickens in Barangay San Carlos in San Luis, Pampanga – considered avian flu ground zero.

As culling continues, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is likely to shorten the ban on the shipment of poultry products from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao and may allow the transport of goods by early September.

In a briefing yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said farmers may resume transporting their goods by the second week of September.

“We will just finish the 21-day incubation period of the virus. If there will be no similar incident, then we can already clear the shipment to other parts of the country,” Piñol said.

“If there will be no manifestation, we will declare an end to the crisis,” he added.

Due to international protocol, however, farmers within ground zero will not be able to operate within 90 days from the outbreak of the disease.

The local industry has been urging DA to immediately lift the temporary ban on transport of their produce.

Piñol again assured the public that there would be no shortage of poultry products, especially eggs, as the Christmas season nears.

“I don’t think that it will be serious because we have enough time to recover,” he said.

He also said the department has started deploying biosecurity teams to inspect all farms nationwide.

“We will conduct an audit of all existing farms starting in Pampanga. We will check the disposal of waste, disposition of chicken dung, among others. We want to improve the biosecurity inspection all over the country to prevent another outbreak,” Piñol said.

Shipment held

As the government continues to assuage public fears, more than 21 tons of frozen dressed chicken arrived in Cagayan de Oro after the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) in Manila cleared the shipment.

But despite being declared safe for human consumption, the shipment was held at a cold storage facility in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, for further test and verification, said Angelita Barcelona, NMIS-10 regional director.

She said the NMIS-10 is not taking any chances and will reexamine the frozen broiler chickens before they are released to the local market.

Frozen chicken will remain safe for consumption for at least two years if kept in cold storage, she pointed out.

The shipment of the dressed chicken to Mindanao was the first since the imposition of transport restrictions. “That’s why we will not clear it right away. If the owner will request for meat inspection certification, we will re-inspect it,” Barcelona added. The NMIS-10 did not reveal the owner of the shipment.

In Zamboanga City, the veterinary quarantine services of the BAI regional office reported having intercepted Tuesday afternoon at the port at least 35,000 incubated duck eggs for balut, which came from Candaba, Pampanga.

The eggs were kept in seven pallets when discovered by quarantine personnel during an inspection on a 2Go ferry that arrived from Manila about 3 p.m. Tuesday.

BAI’s quarantine personnel have been on high alert for unauthorized poultry shipment, especially those coming from Luzon.

One of the consignees agreed to ship back five of the pallets while the consignee of the two other pallets containing at least 9,000 eggs abandoned the cargo.

Social media help sought

Meanwhile, the president of Samahang Industriya at Agrikultura (Sinag) has urged the public, especially netizens, to use the power of social media to allay fears of bird flu.

Rosendo So said netizens can help by posting photos of themselves online eating chicken or other poultry products.

“We have a bountiful supply because very few are eating chicken,” he said in Filipino.

He said the avian flu scare has cost the poultry industry tremendous losses and it would take a massive information campaign to convince the public that eating chicken is safe. 

He added that various local government units (LGUs) should also do their part in correcting public misperception.

“It must be disseminated to the people that the avian influenza in the Philippines does not affect humans while the strain of bird flu in other countries is contagious,” he said.

“Why should we import chicken from other countries which have worse case than the one in San Luis, Pampanga? In the Philippines, we could not ship chicken now to  Mindanao,” he said.

“There should be total ban on importation of chicken in our country if these come from areas identified with worse avian influenza strain,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Red Cross said it is also engaged in disseminating information about avian flu.

“The Philippine Red Cross is now mobilizing all staff and 143 volunteers to monitor all communities and to spread awareness campaign on what precautions should be taken in an area affected by bird flu,” PRC chairman Sen. Richard Gordon said.

“The volunteers are our first line of defense to report any incidents on disasters and emergencies but as well as epidemics such as bird flu,” he said. With Eva Visperas, Non Alquitran, Ric Sapnu, Roel Pareño, Gerry Lee Gorit