THE Department of Agriculture recently issued a temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen from Flevoland, the Netherlands.
Under Memorandum Order No. 29-16, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol ordered a temporary ban based on a report submitted by Dr. Christianne Bruschke, chief veterinary officer, Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Hague, Netherlands to the Office of Internationale Des Epizooties (OIE) that there has were outbreaks of the H5N8 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus in Biddinghuizen, Flevoland, the Netherlands affecting fattening ducks as confirmed by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad.
The OIE is an inter-governmental organization that, among others, has functions of informing governments of the occurrence of animal diseases and of ways to control these diseases, of coordinating studies devoted to the surveillance and control of animal diseases and of harmonizing regulations to facilitate trade in animals and animal products.
“There is a need to prevent the entry of HPAI virus to protect the health of the local poultry population,” Piñol said.
Piñol ordered the immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary import clearances on the importation of poultry products from the affected US territory.
In addition, Piñol also instructed the DA’s veterinary quarantine officers and inspectors at all major ports to stop and confiscate all shipments of poultry and poultry products (with the exception of heat-treated products) from the said area.
Piñol said, however, that frozen poultry meat with slaughterhouse/process date of 21 days prior to the HPAI outbreaks are allowed to enter the country subject to veterinary quarantine rules and regulations.
The Philippines, to this day, remains free from the highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu.
Piñol said the ban and other emergency measures were necessary to protect the health of the public and the local poultry population.