by Miriam G. Desacada
Tacloban City–Acting on the latest confirmation of the first case of Avian Influenza virus (H5N1) or bird flu that hit chickens of a poultry farm in Kananga, Leyte, two mayors—Mayor Ramon Oñate of Palompon, Leyte and Mayor Bernardino Tacoy of Matag-ob, Leyte—decided to do something without waiting any longer for an advisory from concerned government agencies on the matter.
Tacoy and Oñate, one after the other, issued an executive order creating their respective municipal task force to carry out preemptive measures that would prevent the spread of the virus into their towns, which are nearby the affected Kananga.
Tacoy, whose town of Matag-ob adjoins Kananga, issued EO o21 creating Task Force Lipad (TFL) to address bird flu-related concerns within his town.
The Matag-ob TFL is tasked to develop and enforce guidelines for livestock management and biosecurity measures, oversee vaccination of poultry, conduct public awareness drive on the disease, monitor the avian population with ready response mechanism, and disease control measures in case it hits Matag-ob.
Oñate issued EO 11 creating the Municipal Task Force on Avian Influenza (AI) that would implement the total ban on the entry of all live domestic and wild birds into the coastal town, including the monitoring and inspection of raw poultry meat sold in public markets.
The Palompon Task Force AI provides policy and supervise the conduct of AI preparedness and contingency plan (AIPCP) in cooperation with barangay units, set a forum and links with other agencies, intercept the entry of poultry, and mobilize quick response teams and quarantine operations in case of a outbreak.
Oñate added that he and four other town mayors are set to have a meeting today to discuss for the crafting
of comprehensive preventive measures to stop the possible intrusion of the disease into their towns.
Oñate also expressed his disappointment over the non-reply of regional offices of national government
agencies to his concerns and complaints over the detection of this first case of bird flu in the district.
He said he expected that an advisory from these agencies will be distributed to the town mayors to guide
them on the proper things to do to address this virus.
However, the day earlier before the EOs of the two mayors, the Department of Agriculture-8 (DA8) issued an official statement regarding the bird flu viral infection of some chickens at a poultry breeder farm in Kananga.
The DA8 said it received on March 22 the results of a confirmatory test from the Bureau of Animal Industry’s Animal Disease Diagnosis and Reference Laboratory (ADDRL) on chickens of the Kananga farm after these tested positive of the bird flu during a rapid test on March 13.
But DA8 Regional Executive Director Andrew Orais assured the public that “the situation is under control” after the breeder farm—Leyte Poultry Development Corp. of Benjamin Pongos Jr.—decided to cull at least 60,000 of its chickens, even if there were only two that tested positive out of 30 random samples, buried these properly and then subjected the farm with disinfection procedures.
After a meeting with the Regional Avian Influenza Task Force in Tacloban, Orais told the media that among the symptoms showed by an infected bird or poultry is gasping, nasal discharge, and a swollen head.
Orais theorized that the source of the virus could be the migratory birds that periodically visit Barangay Nahaungan, in Kananga, thus, he advised poultry breeders to protect their farms from these kinds of birds, and then reports to authorities any occurrences of unusual deaths among the animals.
The DA8, in its public statement on the bird flu, said that it already coordinated with the Department of Health-8 (DOH8) to closely monitor the quarantined farm workers who were in close contact with the infected chickens.
The DOH8 replied that proper healthcare was provided to the workers during their quarantine period, and that it will give the needed health services to workers handling the investigation and inspection.
Orais said his office had been coordinating with the National Meat Inspection Services to widen the inspection of chicken meat and eggs sold in the markets. He had recommended to the public however that it is still safe to buy and consume these products for as long as these passed meat inspection and bought from registered and authorized outlets.
The DA8 statement further advised the public from engaging with and sharing social media posts that are false news, misinformation, disinformation and fearmongering, which might cause unnecessary panic and chaos.
The public must take part also in monitoring and surveillance of poultry farms and then report to authorities any unusual but verified rise of mortality of birds and poultry in a particular place across the region, said the DA8.
Meanwhile, Oñate requested the media to ask the authorities if the bird-flu-affected breeder farm in Kananga has complete documents and permits to operate because, if it has none of these, then the authorities can be questioned on why this farm is allowed to operate its business.
Orais said the DA8 will later look into any violation, if there’s any, committed by the farm. —Miriam G. Desacada