Manila: The agriculture department has lifted restrictions it imposed in three areas in Central Luzon as a result of an avian flu infestation.
Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol said as a result of recommendations from biosecurity experts, he signed a memorandum lifting the seven-kilometre radius quarantine restriction in the poultry-raising municipalities of San Luis in Pampanga province and Jaen and San Isidro towns in Nueva Ecija.
“The biggest crisis thus far to hit the agriculture sector under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, the avian influenza outbreak in three towns in Central Luzon, is now officially over,” said Pinol in a Facebook post on Sunday.
Thousands of chickens, ducks and quails had been culled and eggs and other poultry products destroyed as a result of findings that Avian influenza, Type A Sub-Type H5 had afflicted fowl from poultry farms in the three Central Luzon areas.
Avian influenza had caused the death of some 37,000 fowls, mostly layer chickens in San Luis.
While there had been no animal transmission, among the steps taken were imposing a seven-kilometre safety zone.
Pinol said the lifting of the quarantine restrictions means that poultry and poultry products from these areas could now be transported to other destinations or markets.
“However, quarantine restrictions and surveillance are still in place in the one-kilometre radius of the three towns,” he pointed out, adding that farmers will only be allowed to raise chicken, ducks and quails again after 90 days from the day the disinfection of the areas ended.
The bird flu scare had serious repercussions on poultry producers.
At the Malabon Municipal Market in the village of San Agustin, chicken merchants are complaining of poor sales the past two weeks as a result of the avian flu scare.
“We are forced to sell at a loss due to poor sales of our dressed chicken,” Edmina Manalo told Gulf News in an interview.
“Before the bird flu scare we were selling our chicken at P120 (Dh8.63) per kilo, now we are lucky if anyone would buy at P80 per kilo,” she said.
According to Pinol the damage to the industry could not still be quantified beyond the value of more than 600,000 fowl that biosecurity teams, including Army soldiers, culled.
The government had earlier called on the help of the army to help in the cull in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.
“If it is any consolation, our losses in the first case of Bird Flu in the country is nowhere near the devastation of the Thai poultry industry when they were hit by bird flu four times,” he said.
During the first Thai bird flu outbreak, 60 million fowls were killed but Thailand’s poultry industry was still able to recover.
“We will certainly recover,” Piñol said.
On August 29, in a bid to show Filipinos that it is safe to eat poultry products, President Duterte, Pinol and Pampanga 3rd Congressional District Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo feasted on a meal of chicken and duck and eggs.