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[av_heading tag=’h3′ padding=’10’ heading=’DA steps up bird flu surveillance’ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=”][/av_heading]
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Wednesday, December 28, 2016
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ILOILO City – Farmers and local government units (LGUs) were asked to help ensure Western Visayas and the rest of the Philippines remain free from bird flu.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 6 is stepping up its monitoring of the disease.
Caused by the avian influenza virus, bird flu affects internal organs of chickens and other poultry animals.
It can also be transmitted to and kill humans, according to Dr. Pacifico Lumauag III, a veterinarian for the DA-6.
Currently the Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia free from the disease.
Maintaining this status requires collective efforts from government agencies, the poultry industry, LGUs, and communities in coastal and “critical” areas, Lumauag said.
“Critical” areas are those with the presence of waterfowls and shorebirds (migratory or residential) and live bird markets, and hotspots for illegal trade and wildlife.
The avian influenza virus occurs naturally among migratory birds, and their contact with domestic fowls may increase the threat of transmission through nasal secretions, saliva and feces.
As part of surveillance, the DA-6 conducts serum sample and oropharyngeal swabs on chickens, geese and ducks in critical areas twice a year, Lumauag said.
In May 2017 it is scheduled to conduct the tests in Barangay Bugnay, Jordan, Guimaras; Sibalom, Antique; Dumangas, Sara, Ajuy, and Concepcion in Iloilo; and Sipalay City, Negros Occidental.
Lumauag advised residents to bury sick or dead wild birds and report them to the local veterinarian. Do not cook and eat sick or dead chickens and keep them away from other fowls, he said. (PIA/PN)
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