Pestilence

MANILA, Nov. 1 — The Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA) has temporarily banned the entry of all imports of domestic and wild birds, along with poultry and its products from Germany following official confirmation by animal health authorities of the occurrence of the avian influenza (AI) or bird flu virus in the said European country.

The OIE based its declaration on the report submitted by Dr. Barbara Hoffman of the Federal Ministry of Food and Consumer Protection to the OIE.

As such, Yap directed the DA quarantine officers and inspectors at all major airports and seaports to stop and confiscate all shipments of live birds, poultry and poultry products into the country originating from Germany.

He also ordered the immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Veterinary Quarantine Clearances (VQCs) to all imports covering these products from the banned areas.

The ban covers all "domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen."

Besides Germany, the United Kingdom, Haiti and the US state of Arkansas, the Philippine government also imposes a ban on imports of birds, poultry and its products from Denmark, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Poland and the western African country of Benin to protect human health and the poultry industry in the country.

Yap said the ban and other emergency measures are necessary to protect human health and the P60-billion poultry industry in the Philippines, which has remained bird flu-free ever since the H5N1 strain of this virus struck back in Asia five years ago.

The Philippines along with Brunei and Singapore are the only AI-free countries in Southeast Asia.

As of end-October this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 245 out of 387 people found in laboratory-confirmed cases to have been infected with the AI virus have died since the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus broke out in Southeast Asia in 2003 and then spread across the rest of the continent, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In the nearby Asian country of Indonesia, out of the 137 cases confirmed to date, about 112 have been fatal, according to the same WHO data. Elsewhere in the region, Vietnam was reported to have 52 AI-related deaths; China, 20; and Thailand, 17.

From January to June this year, the DA collected a total of 2,483 serum samples and 497 cloacal swabs from native and game fowls, chickens, ducks and other avian species from 13 regions, 34 provinces, 57 municipalities, 6 cities and 110 barangays, which all yielded negative results on the presence of the AI virus.

Through its Avian Influenza Protection Program (AIPP), Yap said the DA has so far established 577 AI influenza protection task forces and finalized 380 preparedness and response plans at the municipal level.

The DA has also been conducting community-based workshops and other training programs with the assistance of foreign institutions to raise public awareness over the dangers of the AI virus and measures to keep the country bird flu free.

The government has also been upgrading facilities at the Philippine Animal Health Center (PAHC) and four other AI laboratories in Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Region, and Northern Mindanao, procuring personal protective equipment and strengthening its border and quarantine control procedures. (PNA)

"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." Mat 24:7