Amid avian flu outbreak, RP sets ban

Thursday, March 26, 2009

By Ira Karen Apanay, Senior Reporter The Department of Agriculture temporarily banned the entry of birds and poultry products from Japan and the Czech Republic following confirmed outbreaks of the Avian Influenza virus, or bird flu there. In separate directives issued on Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the ban was imposed after official reports from the Office International des Epizooties or Animal Health Organization confirmed outbreaks of the dreaded bird flu in those countries. The ban covers “domestic and wild birds, and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen,” according to a statement. Yap noted that the Animal Health Organization had separately confirmed the occurrence of low pathogenic bird flu in a farm in Toyohashi City following a report by Japan’s International Animal Health Affairs Office of the Food Safety and Consumer Affairs Bureau about the presence of the strain in that area. The Animal Health Organization reported that it had also confirmed the outbreak of low pathogenic bird flu in a farm in Hodonin Jihomo­ravsky in the Czech Republic. Staying flu-free In his directive, Yap said the ban and other emergency measures were necessary to protect public health and the Philippine poultry industry, which has remained free of bird flu ever since the outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain in Asia six years ago. ;) The Philippines, along with Brunei and Singapore, is the only bird-flu free countries in Southeast Asia. Yap directed quarantine officers and inspectors of the Agriculture department who are detailed at major airports and seaports across the country to stop and confiscate all shipments of live birds and poultry products into the country originating from Japan and the Czech Republic. He also ordered the immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Veterinary Quarantine Certificates for all imports covering these products from the banned countries. Idaho chickens safe Meanwhile, Yap lifted the ban on the imports of poultry products from the US state of Idaho after the Animal Health Organization validated the report of Dr. Stan Bruntz of that state’s National Surveillance Unit Epidemiologist that the bird flu had been eradicated in the area. Bruntz also reported to the Animal Health Organization that the cleaning and disinfecting of the affected premises in Payette County in Idaho were completed on October 29 and that ongoing surveillance has not detected any new cases of bird flu. In a memorandum order also on Wednesday, Yap said that based on the evaluation of the Bureau of Animal Industry, the risk of contamination from importing poultry and poultry products from Idaho is “negligible.” The World Health Organization (WHO) had reported that as of March 23, there were 412 laboratory-confirmed cases of the bird flu and 256 fatalities from the disease since the H5N1 strain of the virus broke out in Southeast Asia in 2003. It had then spread across the rest of the continent, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Department of Agriculture in the Philippines has been setting up Community-Based Early Warning Systems in selected villages identified as in high risk of contracting the bird-flu virus as part of its continuing measures to keep the Philippines free of this animal disease. Under its Avian Influenza Protection Program, the Agriculture department has also implemented the Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training Program to strengthen the capacity of the field veterinary services, especially at the local level, in designing and managing disease surveillance, conducting outbreak investigation and effective outbreak containment measures. Thirteen local government veterinarians successfully graduated from the program on March 6. Besides these measures, 20 critical areas are under surveillance especially during the bird-migration season of October to February. The government has four avian influenza laboratories in the country—in Zamboanga City, Cagayan de Oro City, Cebu City and San Fernando City in Pampanga.