State of preparedness: City gets ready to fight bird flu

Apparently concerned over the threat of the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, Cebu City will declare itself under a State of Preparedness.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña initially wanted the city to be put under the state of calamity, but during the emergency meeting yesterday with city officials and department heads, it was agreed to put the city under the state of preparedness instead.

As part of this preparation, Osmeña wants all the occupants of the city-owned condominium along Natalio Bacalso Avenue to vacate the building since it has been identified as the quarantine area for possible victims.

"We have to empty the condo and rush its renovation. The bird flu threat is very real. We have to be ready and prepared on how to handle this problem. I am not an expert in bird flu, but the whole world is being warned. I am the mayor of this city it is my duty to protect my people. This is a dangerous and explosive situation," Osmeña said.

Bird flu is an infection caused by avian influenza viruses. These flu viruses occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. However, bird flu is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds like chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them.

City councilor Sylvan Jakosalem said during their meeting, they created two committees - one for monitoring the entry of birds including domestic fowls and the other one to take care of the administrative aspect in charge of information dissemination among others.

Jakosalem said, they opted not to declare the city under the state of calamity as this might cause undue panic among the general public and will eventually affect the establishments selling chicken.

Rolando Ardoza, executive director of the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council, said that the city cannot be put under the state of calamity as of this time as there are no cases of bird flu infections here.

In order for a particular locality to be put under the state of calamity, some guidelines are set such as the calamity must pose imminent danger to the inhabitants and at least 20 percent of the entire population of that locality is affected.

"As of this time, there is no calamity to speak of," Ardoza said. He added that to date, the city, through a council resolution approved sometime in April, is under the state of disaster preparedness in order to respond to both natural and man-made calamities.

Jakosalem said that Ardoza should make the recommendation to the city council that the city be declared under a state of preparedness specifically for bird flu.

But Ardoza said, Councilor Gerardo Carillo, will introduce an amendment to the resolution passed last April in today's regular session. Once the city is put under state of preparedness, Ardoza said, it could tap the city's calamity fund.

Meanwhile, Susana Madarieta, regional director of the Department of Health, said that all DOH regional directors in the country will have a special meeting this Friday on how the country will address the threat of bird flu and how to prepare for it.

Madarieta said that although there are no bird flu cases in the country, it is better for everyone to be prepared. She lauded the Cebu City government for taking measures about this matter.

Madarieta is also advising all backyard raisers to report immediately to their concerned officials anything unusual that would happen to their fowls.

"So if they found out nga naay nangamatay sa ilang mga manok ug uban pang hayop sama sa pato, they should report immediately so that these can be tested," the regional chief said.

Cebu City veterinarian Alice Utlang also said that yesterday they have collected 53 blood samples of domestic fowls from barangays Basak San Nicolas and Cogon Pardo.

Last Monday, the team has also taken blood samples from 36 chickens, ducks and doves from sitios Lawis and Kalapukan, barangay Mambaling.

These areas are near Ponds A and B of the South Reclamation Project, where migratory birds oftentimes visit. These birds are considered probable carriers of the bird flu virus.

The blood samples collected will be brought to the Bureau of Animal Industry in Manila for testing.