By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
It is really a cause of concern but bird flu should not scare the wits out of us. Any misplaced fear will cause unnecessary dislocation of economy in some communities, not necessarily the one directly affected by the flu. Just look at the plight of poultry raisers in Luzon, especially in Central Luzon and even elsewhere. And don’t forget the fresh chicken sellers, the egg dealers, the restaurants specializing on chicken-based menus, the fried chicken industry, etc. Many of these are having sleepless nights, don’t seem to have enough energy to break into a smile. If ever they can force themselves to smile, nothing is enigmatic in them. Just plain insipid.
It is estimated that losses due to the current scare amount to about PhP179.0M daily. That is very substantial by any yardstick. That means that the effect of the bird flu is not confined to a single town or province or region. That is why, it is important that the government agencies charged to safeguard our poultry industry should be ever vigilant and very quick to respond to contain the disease and to allay the unfounded fears of people.
Us, citizens, should also be not unduly scared. Understanding of the situation, keeping calm and cooperation by all is of utmost importance. Otherwise, the repercussion could be big and may go haywire.
The occurrences of diseases like bird flu in a country is immediately known in other nations, thanks to the internet and social media
I know of people, including my own relatives abroad, who are advising their kins and friends in Baguio to stop eating poultry products at the moment. If the health of family members is at stake, the advice is understandable. But of course such advice is unsound since poultry product supplies in the Baguio-Benguet area normally come from the adjacent provinces such as Pangasinan, where there is no bird flu.
The bird flu scare have resulted in the banning of our exports of birds and bird products to Japan, South Korea and Singapore although the ban imposed by these countries are on appeal. It also resulted in temporary banning of poultry products from Luzon to Visayas and Mindanao by the DA but this had already been lifted. This is an indication that the flu virus is already contained. No spread to other areas is expected.
To show that chicken raised in Pampanga outside of San Luis is safe, the mayor of Candaba town, distributed free chicken and people were just too happy to receive them. They firmly believe, because of the assurance given by DOH and DA, that the detected H5N5 strain in the affected fowls will not affect their health.
We should eat poultry products in the Cordillera region. It will help our economy. Anyway, there was enough safeguard implemented by the Department of Agriculture to prevent poultry products from spreading out of the affected areas in San Luis Pampanga as well as Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija.
What we should be wary about is the possibility that the chicken dung we are using in our vegetable gardens may have been sourced out from the affected areas. Chicken dung is said to be a possible source of infection for humans. We should guard against this. The cooperation of dealers must be guaranteed.
I think the DA, through the active leadership of Sec. Manny Piñol had done a very good job in addressing the bird flu virus problem.
It is said that the source of the bird flu is not yet determined. There are a lot of speculations. One of them is the possibility that the migratory birds from China could have carried the virus. China was one of the countries that experienced outbreak of the virus earlier. And yes, migratory birds regularly visiting us come from China.
Incidentally, China is known to be a primary source of drugs that are flooding the country. And according to reports from reliable sources, Chinese planes are now patrolling parts of Philippine territory in the West Philippine Sea, that they are regularly intercepting our planes going to the PAG-ASA island. Their ships are also similarly patrolling the same sea and even our territories on the other side, in the Pacific ocean. If we will not condemn such act, in unison as a nation, we will wake up one day that somebody knocking at our doors masquerading as security officers are “singkit”.
Right now, because Chinese planes and ships are moving unhampered in our skies and seas, who can prevent the smuggling of drugs into our shores? With the present stance of Pres. Duterte, it seems that the drug problem will drag on for years and years to come. The drug war will rage on. Meantime, innocents like the kid, Kian de los Santos, could continue to be collateral damage.**
