LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – – The provincial government has issued a directive temporarily banning the entry of poultry and poultry by-products from a town in Pampanga which was reportedly affected by Avian influenza (AI), in efforts to prevent the transmission of the disease in the province.
In a press release dated July 29, 2020 posted in the Department of Agriculture website (http://ww.da.gov.ph), the DA– Bureau of Animal Industry confirmed the presence of a highly pathogenic AI (HPAI) H5N6 strain in a poultry layer or egg farm at San Luis, Pampanga.
As a control measure to contain and arrest the spread of the disease in the said area, 38,701 head of layers were culled following proper disposal and protocols.
Governor Melchor Diclas issued Executive Order 2020-49 declaring a temporary ban on the entry of live birds, eggs, poultry meat and its products and chicken dung from the said area into the province as a proactive measure to curb the transmission and contamination of the disease in the local poultry industry and also prevent the ill effects of the disease.
The order stays until such time that the DA – BAI will give assurance of safety of the area’s poultry industry.
Chief of the Provincial Veterinary Office Dr. Miriam Tiongan said aside from the ban in said area, similar products coming from the rest of the areas in Pampanga need to present certification that their farms are AI-free.
The order also alerted concerned offices such as the Provincial Veterinary Animal Quarantine Officers, and inspectors, Municipal Agriculture Offices including the Police Provincial Office for the strict enforcement of quarantine control protocols and food safety measures.
Tiongan said the established quarantine checkpoints located along Kennon Road in Tuba, Bayabas in Sablan, Marcos Highway in Tuba, Pito in Bokod, Colalo in Mankayan, and San Pascual in Tuba are sustained. So far shippers are complying, she added.
As can be recalled, AI H5N6 strain emerged in Jaen, Nueva Ecija sometime March but is now controlled and contained. **JDP/SCA-PIA-CAR, Benguet
