Last Friday the Department of Agriculture (DA) thru
Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, confirmed the first outbreak of avian
influenza virus(bird flu) in the country, in San Luis, Pampanga.
Test specimens done by government authorities has confirmed
the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5 in the town
of San Agustin in San Luis, Pampanga, which led to the demise of close to
40,000 poultry heads and placed the province in a state of calamity.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who has been on
top of the situation since last week said, quarantine officers will disinfect all
the six farms after all birds in the area have been culled.
"After 21 days, sentinel birds will be deployed
in the affected farms to serve as the basis in determining whether the virus is
still present in the area. If the sentinel birds will not show signs of the
disease, the quarantine restrictions will be lifted after 90 days," Piñol
said.
“Cover your mouth and nose when sneezing
and coughing; wash hands often; take plenty water and juices. Have enough rest
and sleep. Do not go near wild birds or go to farms with fowl,” Secretary Ubial
said.
“If you have flu symptoms that last longer
than three days or feel very weak, see the doctor or go to the nearest hospital
for testing if it’s bird flu,” she added.
The Health Secretary assured the public
that necessary measures were being taken by her agency in direct coordination
with DA and other concerned government
agencies.
“What we fear is outbreak if humans are affected because
of no previous immunity from this type of virus, it can quickly spread,”
Ubial said.
“The Department of Health is now closely
monitoring the events surrounding an avian flu outbreak in poultry in Pampanga,
as reported by the Department of Agriculture,” the DOH said in a statement.
The DA has decided to cull 400,000 birds -
chicken, ducks, quails, pigeons and fighting roosters.
Department of Environment and Natural
Resources-Biodiversity Management Bureau has cautioned the public in
approaching migratory birds in light of fears of the current bird flu outbreak.
Transmission to humans?
The DOH has termed it as “Zoonosis” a
situation where a disease can be transmitted to humans from animals.
As of press time, there are still no
reported human contamination and that the DOH has re-assured the public that
the transmission of the virus from animals to humans is low.
The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine
(RITM) in Alabang, Muntinlupa has the
capacity to confirm cases of cross-infection to humans as well as to handle the
infection should there be cases of human influenza, DOH said in a statement.
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