The Department of Agriculture has lifted a temporary ban on imported birds and poultry – including processed products – from Turkey after global animal health authorities confirmed that the avian influenza (AI) or bird flu virus has been eradicated in that European country.
The department said in a statement Sunday it continues to have in place rigid measures against the imported birds and poultry as cases of AI infections continue to increase and claim lives.
As of mid-June, the World Health Organization reported 499 confirmed cases of bird flu and 295 fatalities from the disease since the H5N1 strain of the virus broke out in Southeast Asia in 2003 and then spread across the rest of the continent to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
From 2003 to 2010, 63 countries reported AI cases in domestic poultry.
In Indonesia, 136 deaths have been recorded so far, while 26 fatalities from the AI virus were reported in China, 17 in Thailand, and 59 in Vietnam.
In a report to the World Organization on Animal Health or the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), Dr. Muzaffer Aydemir of Turkey said that the incidence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza was successfully eradicated from infected premises as of March 22, 2008.
The OIE's Terrestrial Animal Health Code specifies that a country or zone can only be declared free of the AI virus if no outbreak is reported in the past 12 months.
Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla lifted the ban after the OIE restored Turkey's avian-flu status and the Bureau of Plant Industry confirmed that the risk of contamination from imported poultry and poultry products from that country "is negligible," the DA said in the statement. The Philippines, Brunei and Singapore are the only AI-free countries in Southeast Asia.
The government has four avian flu testing facilities located in Zamboanga City, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu City and San Fernando City in Pampanga.
The Regional Avian Influenza Diagnostic Laboratory (RAIDL) in Pampanga is the country's first diagnostic facility that promptly detects the AI virus. The other three laboratories support the ongoing work of RAIDL.
The DA also set up Community-Based Early Warning Systems or CBEWS in selected barangays identified as high-risk areas in terms of contracting the AI virus.
The CBEWs were established to orient Barangay AI Task Forces on the bird flu virus and the reporting process for AI suspects, both in poultry and humans, as well as the possible smuggling of poultry and exotic birds to their localities.
As part of Avian Influenza prevention, the department through the Bureau of Animal Industry has implemented the Applied Veterinary Epidemioloy Training Program.
The program is supposed to strengthen the capacity of field veterinary services, especially at the local level, in designing and managing disease surveillance and hold outbreak investigation and containment measures. —VS
