Bulacan town bird flu outbreak insignificant – BAI

MANILA, Philippines — An outbreak of avian influenza or bird flu recorded in Sta. Maria, Bulacan recently is “insignificant” and will not affect the supply of eggs in the country, an official of the Bureau of Animal Industry said.

BAI assistant director Arlene Vytiaco said the outbreak has been contained, with 17,425 heads of layers culled.

“The outbreak has no significant effect on table egg supply,” Vytiaco said.

She said the BAI is investigating the cause of the bird flu outbreak and collecting samples from the source farm in Pangasinan.

The BAI said the outbreak may also be caused by migratory birds, which are common in Bulacan and other areas in Central Luzon.

“The farm is now empty and based on our control measures after depopulating, it is now for cleaning and disinfection. There will be a rest period after which the farm can repopulate again,” Vytiaco said.

“We finished the one-kilometer-radius surveillance and right now we’re still awaiting the lab results,” she added.

Vytiaco said the BAI would conduct a seven-kilometer surveillance to ensure that neighboring areas are free from avian flu.

Bird flu cases have been recorded in the country since February last year. The first cases were recorded in 2017 and then in 2020.

Outbreaks were reported in a quail farm in Candaba, Pampanga; a quail farm in Masantol, Pampanga; a gamefowl farm in Cagayan Valley; a gamefowl farm in Sampaloc, Manila, and duck farm in Sultan Kudarat.

Last year, more than 200 farms were found positive for bird flu, resulting in the culling of around two million heads.

Vytiaco said it is too early to say if the Philippines can regain its bird flu-free status this year.