RP still bird flu-free, says BAI

ANGELES CITY — After examining at least 3,000 blood samples and other specimens from domestic fowl and migratory birds in various "critical areas" nationwide, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) declared yesterday the country remains free of the avian influenza, or bird flu.

"The samples included not only blood but also fecal matter through ‘cloacal swabbing’ and I am happy to report that all the samples yielded negative results," BAI director Dr. Divino Catbagan told The STAR yesterday.

The bureau has been making anti-bird flu rounds in recent months. Last week it responded to eight alarms on poultry deaths in Pampanga, Bulacan and Batangas, Catbagan said.

Several poultry owners reported the mysterious deaths of their poultry, though this was later found to be unrelated to the bird flu virus.

"We immediately sent experts who found out that none of the cases involved bird flu. The deaths were found to be caused by other diseases common at this time of the year," Catbagan said.

"I am glad poultry owners have become alert over bird flu and report to us," he added.

Catbagan said the Department of Agriculture (DA) has included some P500 million in its budget proposal for next year. This would be used as a standby compensation fund for poultry eliminated if found to be contaminated with the fatal H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

The private sector, for its part, will also raise funds for the anti-bird flu campaign, he said, "so that poultry owners will not be discouraged from reporting mysterious deaths of their fowl amid prospects of their entire poultry (supply) being eliminated to prevent pandemic."

Despite the government’s all-out campaign to prevent the entry of the bird flu virus that has struck many of the country’s neighbors, Catbagan admitted certain drawbacks.

He said that so far, the government only has one laboratory of the BAI that is capable of determining bird flu infection.

The government still needs to set up mobile laboratories, he said.

Catbagan said the government might establish more laboratories in Central Luzon, another in the Visayas, and one or two in Mindanao.

At present, it normally takes 10 days before findings on blood samples are released by the lone BAI laboratory based in Quezon City.

Catbagan said since the government launched its anti-bird flu drive this year, the BAI has already examined at least 3,000 samples of blood and other elements taken at random from domestic fowl and wild birds in various parts of the country.

Catbagan said the government is now more careful about investigating suspected bird flu cases following the panic triggered by reports of ducks purportedly affected by bird flu in Calumpit, Bulacan last June.

In that case, the farm owner’s entire poultry supply had been destroyed by burning, but later findings released from Australia indicated the ducks had not been infected with the H5N1 virus strain.

Catbagan also noted the country "can heave a sigh of relief after February next year when migratory birds from other countries leave the Philippines."