CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – As wild birds escaping from the harsh winter of other Asian countries again seek refuge in the Philippines starting this month, a bird flu laboratory here bared that tests so far this year on 1,950 blood samples from ducks nationwide have indicated the country remains free from bird flu.
The bird flu or avian influenza laboratory was established in 2007 at the compound of the Department of Agriculture (DA) here has been serving the entire country amid repairs on a similar laboratory of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) in Quezon City starting last March, said Dr. Romeo Manalili, regional avian flu coordinator of the DA.
Mallari said that some of the blood samples were from as far as Tacurong in General Santos City in Mindanao, while other samples were from various parts of Visayas and Luzon.
He said he did not expect the rehabilitation of the BAI laboratory to be finished until December.
“We are glad to announce that all the 1,950 blood samples randomly taken from ducks in hot spot areas in the country all tested negative for avian flu,” he said.
Of the total, 280 samples were from Central Luzon, particularly the Candaba swamp in Pampanga where tens of thousands of wild birds, which could carry avian flu virus, migrate at this time of the year.
The laboratory here was established in 2007 with funding of US$340,000 from the New Zealand government.
Manalili noted that all the blood samples were taken from ducks which, he stressed, could carry the avian flu virus while not dying from it. “They’re unlike chickens which die if they contract avian flu,” he said.
He said that government teams have again been alerted to monitor areas which serve as abode for migratory birds from colder countries in Asia.
In Candaba, Mayor Jerry Pelayo has dispatched teams to crack down on the selling of wild birds, even as he imposed a buffer zone between migratory birds and tourists who usually visit his town to observe the different varieties of fowls at the Candaba swamp.
Malacañang earlier said the government is prepared against bird flu threat following the warning of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (UN–FAO) that Asia could be hit anew.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said, “the DA is always on guard, especially with Sec. Prosy Alcala, who is keen on issues under his department.”
“The FAO has warned of the bird flu virus and we are on guard against the entry of products which may contain the virus,” she said.
The UN–FAO has urged governments to heighten preparedness and surveillance amid signs that a mutant strain of the deadly bird flu virus is spreading in Asia.
According to the UN agency, areas recently affected by the virus were found in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Bulgaria, Romania, Nepal, and Mongolia.
The FAO has also expressed concern on virus’ resistance against vaccines in China and Vietnam, noting that it poses a direct threat to Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia as well as Korea and Japan.
Bird flu or avian influenza, has adversely affected at least 63 countries starting in 2003. About 400-million chickens had been culled, leading to economic losses of over $20 billion to the world’s poultry sector.
There had been about 565 people infected all over the world, 331 of whom had died.
The latest death occurred earlier this month in Cambodia, which has registered eight cases of fatal human infections this year.
Bird flu is an infectious disease in chickens, ducks, and other birds caused by different subtypes of the Influenza A virus.
It can be transmitted to humans if persons live in close contact with birds through infected aerosols, discharges, and surfaces, feces; flapping of wings could hasten AI transmission; plucking and preparing of diseased birds; playing with poultry, and consumption of duck’s blood or possibly undercooked poultry.
