DA: Camarines Norte now free of bird flu
Camarines Norte has been declared free of bird flu, almost three months after a case was reported in the province, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced on Wednesday.
“After 28 days without new cases following the stamping-out policy and disinfection, Camarines Norte has met the World Organization for Animal Health’s criteria to regain its avian influenza-free status,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement.
This development came after a “swift response” from local leaders and agencies of the DA, Tiu Laurel said.
The government confirmed in December that it detected the country’s first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N2—a bird flu subtype that was found to be transmissible to humans — in a backyard duck farm in Talisay town.
Following this single case, Tiu Laurel said the government immediately implemented a control strategy, which included the depopulation of the affected farm and movement restrictions.
The DA monitored farms within a 7-kilometer radius around the affected site, with no new infection recorded.
Restoring confidence
The agency hopes that with this bird-flu free tag, confidence in Camarines Norte’s poultry sector would be restored.
Based on data from the Bureau of Animal Industry as of Feb. 28, eight provinces remained affected by avian influenza. These are Kalinga, Benguet, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Bataan, Bulacan and Laguna. The City of Manila is also among the 53 cities and municipalities with bird flu cases.
Earlier, the DA suspended the importation of poultry from four American states to prevent the spread of bird flu in the Philippines and protect the local poultry population.
The DA ordered the import ban through Memorandum Order No. 11 covering domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen from Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the disease is caused by avian influenza A viruses that usually spread between birds, not people.
A subtype, caused by avian influenza A(H5) virus, is spreading worldwide in wild birds and causing sporadic outbreaks in US poultry and dairy cows. In addition to spreading to an increasing number of mammals, H5 bird flu has caused some rare human infections, the CDC said in its website.
It said avian influenza A viruses may be spread from infected birds to other animals, and potentially to humans, through infected birds or from avian influenza A virus-contaminated environments or through an intermediate host, such as another animal.
“People with close, prolonged, unprotected contact (not wearing recommended personal protective equipment) with infected birds or other animals or surfaces that infected animals have contaminated with their secretions/excretions like [mucus], saliva, feces or milk (in dairy cows) are at greater risk of infection,” the CDC said.
