San Luis mayor asks experts to determine origin of bird flu to avoid recurrence

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    CLARK FREEPORT — The worst seems over for San Luis, Pampanga which was hit by avian flu, but Mayor Venancio Macapagal remains apprehensive over lack of certainty on the origin of the virus that led the government to “depopulate” all fowls in the town.

    “I am appealing to experts to finally trace the origin of the avian flu virus. Unless this is done, it is possible that it would again hit us in the future,” Macapagal said in a forum with the Capampangan in Media, Inc. (Cami) here on Friday.

    Officials of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) theorized that the flu might have been brought by migratory birds. This town is a neighbor to the Candaba swamp which traditionally hosts tens of thousands of migratory birds at certain months of the year.

    But Macapagal noted lack of migratory birds in his town, especially in Barangay San Carlos where the “ground zero” for avian flu was located.

    Avian flu was also found in Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija, which are not known for hosting migratory birds.

    Raising and even mere movement of poultry in the one-kilometer radius from ground zero would remain banned for three months, except for sentinel birds which experts will raise in the site to ascertain that avian flu virus has been contained.

    At the same time, Macapagal also reported that at least 50 more unregistered poultry raisers, who had volunteered their fowls to be culled, have been going to his office since the other day to also ask for government compensation for their culled poultry.

    Last Monday, President Duterte turned over to Macapagal some P20.7 million as compensation for poultry raisers whose fowls were culled as preventive measure against the spread of avian flu. The government will pay them P70 per culled chicken and P10 per culled quail.

    Macapagal also said 79 workers at 36 poultry farms within ground zero have stayed in the farms despite lack of work, in wait for government clearance for their employers to resume poultry operations. “They are now being assisted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under its food for-work program,” he said, noting that most of the workers are not from Pampanga.

    The mayor also noted that while his town is a noted producer of eggs, 80 percent of its population is into rice production. “They are mostly farmers who just happen to raise poultry in their backyards,” he said.

    San Luis is a third class municipality with a population of about 60,000. Most of its P180 million yearly budget is from Internal Revenue Allocation.

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