Malacañang expressed readiness to combat bird flu outbreak
Malacañang Palace said that the Philippines is ready to combat bird flu outbreak after the reported detection of a strain of the disease in Nueva Ecija.
In February this year, a report stated that the Philippine government was on alert after another reported H5N1 outbreak in China. Amid the continued threat that novel coronavirus disease 2019, a new strain of the bird flu was detected in the province of Nueva Ecija, an earlier report stated.
Based on the previous report, experts called the new strain as H5N6. In line with this, the Palace said that the country is ready to take action against the outbreak.
Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar said that H5N6 “highly pathogenic” avian influenza affected 1,500 quail at a farm in Barangay Ulanin-Pitak, Jaen town. DA Technical Spokesperson for Avian Influenza Arlene Vytiaco said that there is a very slim chance that this disease will be transmitted to humans.
Following this, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that the government already has a protocol if the bird flu outbreak comes to worst, based on the report from ABS-CBN.
“Lahat iyan ng mga problema natin, naka-establish ang mga protocols natin diyan… Pinaghandaan na natin lahat iyan. Wala tayong choice kung hindi salubungin natin at gawan natin ng paraan,” Panelo said before the reporters on Monday.
“Kumbaga, sinusubukan tayo ng tadhana, we have to rise to the challenge of the times,” the Presidential Spokesperson added.
Based on the report, some 200,000 fowls were culled in the province of Pampanga in 2017 due to the bird flu virus.
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