BFAR: Fish can’t get HIV

CEBU, Philippines — The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-7 said there is no truth to the claims that fish that swim in waters where hospital waste is disposed can become infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

“The bureau wanted to emphasize that fish are not fed with garbage, most of them eat plankton,” BFAR-7 said in a statement.

With that, BFAR-7 assured that fish are safe to eat, except for those that have been fished using dynamite or poison.

Health authorities earlier said that HIV is transmitted through sexual intercourse, blood transfusion, sharing of syringe and needles, and mother-to-child transmission.

Recently, false warnings have again circulated discouraging people from eating fish in certain areas, claiming these have been contaminated by the hospital waste.

BFAR-7 is appealing to the public to refrain from spreading false information that may mislead people, as this does not only cause a scare but also affects the livelihood of fish vendors and fishermen.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Statistics Authority-7 announced that their CRS Serbilis Outlet is experiencing technical problems with its network system provider, which is beyond their control.

“Due to this, our system cannot process any civil registry documents,” it said.

PSA-7 added that their network team in Manila is currently working to resolve this situation.

“Wala pa feedback ang Manila when possible mo-resume og mabalik ang system, sige pa daw sila work out didto,” PSA-7 information officer Noel Rafols said yesterday when sought for comment on when the system will be back. BRP (FREEMAN)