Arroyo to DA: Intensify measures vs bird flu

MANILA, Philippines - The government is set to adopt measures to protect consumers and the country’s P60-billion poultry industry from the bird flu virus following a recent ban on imported poultry from Denmark and the resurgence of the flu virus in Hong Kong. In her directive to the Department of Agriculture, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said all necessary measures should be done to keep the Philippines one of three bird flu-free countries in Southeast Asia, wit the other two being Brunei and Singapore. The directive came a week after DA slapped the temporary ban on all imports of domestic and wild birds, including poultry and its products like day-old chicks, eggs and semen, from Denmark, after the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) or the Animal Health Organization reported of low pathogenic avian influenza (AI) in a poultry farm in Stenstrup, Svendborg Kommune, South in Denmark. These reportedly affected geese, chickens, ducks and mallards in the said farm. "The country has remained free of bird flu ever since the H5N1 strain of this virus first resurfaced in Asia in 2003. I have directed the DA to remain vigilant in monitoring the entry and importation of poultry particularly from countries with reported incidents of bird flu," President Arroyo said. In response, Agriculture secretary Arhur Yap directed DA quarantine officers and inspectors at all major airports and seaports to stop and confiscate all incoming shipments of live birds, poultry and poultry products coming from Denmark. Yap also ordered the immediate suspension of the issuance of Veterinary Quarantine Clearances (VQCs) to all imports covering these products from Denmark. Apart from Denmark, the Philippines also has banned imports of birds, poultry and its products from Korea, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Benin. As this developed, President Arroyo also welcomed the lifting of the ban on all birds and poultry imports from Canada after Saskatchewan has been cleared of any flu infestation. "I am pleased that the DA has lifted the temporary ban on all imports of domestic and wild birds along with poultry and its products from the Canadian province of Saskatchewa. However, I told the DA it must still exercise full vigilance not just for the onset of avian flu but for other diseases as well that can be brought in through imported poultry and meat products," she said. The DA has lifted the ban lat May following official confirmation by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) of the absence of the AI virus in the prairie area in the last three months and that "the risk from contamination from importing poultry products from Saskatchewan, Canada is negligible." - GMANews.TV