News update Agriculture lifts ban on birds, poultry from Turkey

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

Class95cafe 5 spices whole roasted chicken

Roasted Chicken or "manok" seems be the passion of eatery in Philippines. Roasted chicken like chicken joy are among the favorite here. Similarly, Chicken and duck are the principal poultry in the Chinese kitchen and there are innumerable ways in which they can be served, many of them new to the Philippines , for instance, 'Paper Wrapped Chicken, beggar chicken, Pandan leaf chicken, Sesame Chicken and Garlic Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, Emperor herb chicken and the savory Hainanese chicken rice chicken etc . They range from the simple to the exotic.Chickens are considered something a little more special than just meat by Chinese and Philippines . One large chicken can often be worked in several different ways and my mum use to tell me can be cut into 12 pieces.

For instance, the white meat can be sliced to make a stir-frying dish. Dark meat and bones can be used for slow-cooking soup. The meat in the soup , if not overcooked, can be used to make White Cut Chicken, or combined with dark soy sauce to make one form of Red dates-Cooked Chicken, an Eastern or Shanghai style cooking. With young chicken, after the white meat is used in shallow fry, the other parts can be used in deep fry. Thus, Chinese have names like Chicken-in-Three-Flavors or three dishes coming from one chicken. While most Westerners discard them, chicken giblets and other parts such as necks are very useful in the Chinese and Philippines dishes . Some like them better than meat and chicken. Chicken gizzards, hearts, skinned feet and necks make beautifully clear stock. Chicken livers are never used in the stock but are reserved for inclusion in special dishes, or cooked as a dish itself. The feet have more goodness than one might think and is very delicious cooked in Chinese recipes. For soup, Chinese usually use big fat hens or black hen chicken. When the recipe calls for spring chicken, it is usually young roosters.

We have Class95cafe 5 spices whole roasted chicken dine in or take away at P160.00 serve with chicken rice and P45.00 per plate.