BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – As part of efforts to protect the gamefowl industry in Negros Occidental, the provincial government announced it would purchase a machine that could test gamefowl for bird flu.
Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, Negros Occidental provincial administrator, said it is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) machine.
According to the British Society for Immunology, ELISA is commonly used to measure antibodies, antigens, proteins and glycoproteins in biological samples.
The machine is capable of detecting the presence of bird flu, especially in chickens.
The planned purchase is in response to a requirement made by the Department of Agriculture – that 10 percent of every shipment of gamefowl from the provinces heading to other destinations must undergo avian influenza test.
Because the province does not have an ELISA machine, local gamefowl breeders are forced to await the test results from Metro Manila.
The ELISA machine is estimated to cost P900,000.
Negros Occidental currently remains free from bird flu and is enforcing an indefinite ban on the entry of live birds and poultry products./PN
