AGRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Tuesday the ban on the movement of live domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, semen and manure from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao is just temporary and will be lifted as soon as experts conclude that the risk of spreading the virus has been eliminated.
Piñol said that the government is exerting all efforts to contain the spread of the avian flu from the town of San Luis, Pampanga, which was placed under an immediate quarantine on Aug. 10.
A circular from the Bureau of Animal Industry banned the movement of live domestic and wild birds including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, semen and manure from Luzon to the rest of the country. The same memo, however, says the movement of fowl from the Visayas and Mindanao to Luzon would be allowed.
Shipment of poultry products within Luzon will be allowed as long as it is outside the seven-kilometer radius control area of Pampanga.
The movement of poultry meat and poultry products from Luzon to any point in Luzon, will be allowed “provided this is outside of the 7-kilometer radius control area of Pampanga” and that these shipments are covered by a shipping permit and a certificate issued by a government veterinarian that the products came from farms with no incidence of avian flu for the last 21 days before shipment.
Poultry meat, including fresh, frozen meat, and uncooked poultry products must be accompanied by a shipping permit and a meat inspection certificate.
Piñol said the ban would be lifted when no new cases are reported and all affected areas are disinfected.
He assured consumers that it was safe to eat chicken, noting that now is the best time to do so because prices have gone down.
“Those who are saying that it is not safe to eat chicken because it came from Pampanga, don’t believe them. Let’s leave this problem to the experts. In fact it has been confirmed by four laboratory tests that the virus is negative for H5N1 or the type that can cross over to humans,” Piñol said.
Malacañang on Tuesday said it is considering the use of troops to hasten the clearing of areas affected by the avian flu virus in the province of Pampanga.
At a Palace briefing, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said the first avian flu outbreak in the country is no small calamity and the government is doing everything to swiftly contain the outbreak.
“We sympathize with the plight of farmers and other sectors in the poultry industry which are burdened by the drastic measures needed to contain and eradicate our first ever avian flu outbreak,” he said.
However, the Palace official noted that the Department of Agriculture may require additional personnel, given the huge task of cleaning and containing a large area.
“Despite their lack of personnel, we urge the DA and the Bureau of Animal Industry to expedite the various clearing to minimize the losses and hasten the recovery of the poultry industry,” he said.
“Perhaps, if needed, the Armed Forces of the Philippines can field more men to cull birds. This is, after all, no small calamity,” Abella said.
The avian flu outbreak was first confirmed by the DA on Thursday in the town of San Luis, Pampanga.
According to reports, the outbreak was contained in six poultry farms.
The DA said that all birds—chickens, birds, ducks, pigeons, quails — within a one-kilometer radius from the affected farms will have to be culled.
So far, BAI reported that more than 18,000 birds have been culled.
While the type of bird flu that hit San Luis cannot be transmitted to humans, Piñol issued an order temporarily banning all fowl shipments from Luzon to other parts of the Philippines.
In the meantime, the Department of Health said it could take up to 90 days before an area is declared bird-flu free.
Health officials also reminded the public that it is safe to eat chicken meat, eggs, and other poultry products—as long as they are “properly cooked.”
In the Senate, Senator Cynthia Villar, chairman of the committee on agriculture and food, said the government should implement an assistance program immediately to help farmers, especially small backyard livestock growers, who are affected by the bird flu outbreak.
Villar said aside from financial assistance, alternative livelihood should be made available to farmers who will not have a source of income for the next four to five months.
In the House, party-list Rep. Orestes Salon called for a congressional investigation to ascertain Piñol’s allegations that there were already indications of the presence of the virus in April that commercial poultry operators failed to report immediately.
Salon also called on the DA to conduct a nationwide inspection to ensure that there are no traces of the virus in other parts of the country.
The Agriculture Department in Cagayan Valley has augmented personnel manning quarantine checkpoints to block the entry of bird flu-affected poultry.
DA regional director Narciso Edillo made the move following the declaration of bird flu outbreak in San Luis, Pampanga where several areas affected by the threat have been placed under quarantine. With Macon Ramos-Araneta, Maricel V. Cruz and PNA