14 provinces now free of bird flu – Department of Agriculture

MANILA, Philippines — Two more provinces have been declared free of avian influenza, bringing the total to 14.

In separate memorandum circulars, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Isabela and Maguindanao del Sur no longer have cases of bird flu.

DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said more than 90 days have lapsed since cleaning and disinfection ended, adding that surveillance activities yielded negative test results.

Camarines Sur, Davao del Sur, Rizal, South Cotabato, Ilocos Sur, Batangas, Capiz, Quezon, Aurora, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan and Cotabato had earlier been declared free of bird flu.

The DA said Isabela had recorded three cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N1.

These were detected during testing of chicken layer, duck, gamefowl, pigeon and native chicken in Cauayan City and the towns of Alicia and Gamu on April 21, May 23 and Nov. 7, 2022.

Maguindanao del Sur recorded three cases of HPAI subtype H5N1, which were detected in ducks in Ampatuan on April 8 and May 27, 2022.

The provincial government of Isabela coordinated with the DA-Cagayan Valley regional field office while the Maguindanao del Sur provincial government coordinated with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform and Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to address the situation.

Disease investigation, immediate depopulation, cleaning and disinfection as well as movement restrictions and surveillance in the affected areas were conducted.

The DA said continued disease monitoring and surveillance surrounding the affected farms yielded negative test results for influenza type A virus for more than 90 days, which led to the issuance of the circulars.

As of Dec. 15, BAI data showed that seven regions, 12 provinces, 70 towns and 158 barangays remained affected by avian influenza.

Balanga City in Bataan and Concepcion, Tarlac have ongoing bird flu cases affecting ducks.

To help affected areas recover from bird flu, the DA issued a memorandum circular in November, allowing the commercial use of vaccines to avoid substantial economic losses.

Under the vaccination program, the two types of jabs are protective emergency and preventive vaccination. 

Only vector, killed or inactivated and recombinant vaccines are allowed under the program.

The DA said commercial layer chicken, layer breeder, broiler breeder, colored or free-range breeder, grandparent broiler breeder, small-hold layer or native chicken, duck, game fowl, turkey and goose are eligible for vaccination.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said bird flu spreads among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species.

It said bird flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with avian influenza viruses have occurred.