DA lifts temporary ban on US goats importation

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted the temporary ban on the importation of live goats from the United States of America.

It came days after the temporary banning of the importation of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)-susceptible animal and products from Turkey and domestic and wild birds from France, due to the outbreak of avian influenza.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. issued Memorandum Order (MO) 43 Tuesday, October 8, recalling the ban on the importation of live goats from the USA, but was publicly announced by DA’s press office only last Friday.

The decision came after the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), through its Information System’s verification system, said that there are no reported nor recorded cases of Q Fever in the USA.

Q fever is described as a “zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, as described by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control”.

Animal infected with Q fever often show no signs of the disease, which can be transmitted to humans through birth products, urine, feces, and milk.

The DA also said earlier that the U.S. Center for Disease Control notes that while most people recover from Q fever without antibiotics, those displaying symptoms require treatment, typically with  doxycycline.

Las June 21, though, it announced that the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) depopulated more than five dozen goats imported from the USA, following the detection of Q fever among a few of the animals at a government breeding station in Marinduque.

The goats were supposedly bought for a dispersal program to farmers.

BAI confirmed the Q fever after conducting a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on blood samples from suspected cases.

Upon receiving information of the PCR test results, Laurel immediate ordered the condemnation of all infected goats; the tracing of potentially infected animals; and a temporary ban on the importation of goats from the USA.

Laurel also ordered the preventive suspension of certain BAI personnel pending investigation, a review of BAI’s quarantine and disease control protocols, and potential blacklisting of the importer of the infected goats.

Laurel said the assurance by health officials that Q fever is not a major public health threat was also a factor in the lifting of the import ban on live goats.

“The Department of Health has assured the public that animal-to-human transmission is rare and that the infection can be readily treated with antibiotics that are locally and widely available,” he said.

Laurel also disclosed that the BAI has already implemented stringent measures to prevent the spread of the infectious disease to both animals and humans.

Prior to the lifting of the temporary ban on importation of live goats from the USA, the DA had issued M.O 42, for the temporary banning of importation of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)- susceptible animals, as well as their products and by-products, from Turkey.

The import ban came after Turkey reported on Sept. 9 an FMD outbreak in Cugun, Merkez, and Kirsehir, affecting domestic cattle.

“We’re imposing an import ban to mitigate the risk of FMD transmission to our local animal population,” Laurel said.

The DA will maintain the import ban until the DA assesses that the local animal population is no longer at risk from FMD.

The DA also announced last Oct. 4 that Laurel also ordered the temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds from France after the European country reported in early August the outbreak of avian influenza.

The ban covers shipments of live poultry, poultry products, and by-products, including day-old chicks and semen.

DA Memorandum Order 40 also suspended the issuance by the BAI of “sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances” for shipments coming from France.

Only birds slaughtered or products processed before July 25, will be allowed to enter the Philippines.

The veterinary quarantine offices of the country were ordered to stop and confiscate shipments of wild and domestic birds, eggs, semen, poultry products, and by-products, except those that are heat-treated. /RHM (FREEMAN)