MANILA: Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa on Wednesday said there is no bird flu outbreak in Tarlac.
‘Good news, negative po lahat ng samples (all of the samples are negative) from Tarlac,’ de Mesa said in a Viber message, dispelling fears of consumers and industry players of a bird flu outbreak.
He said this is based on the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI)’s confirmatory tests following a supposed ‘bird flu outbreak’ in the province.
Three farms from Tarlac have submitted blood samples to BAI, and tests showed samples weren’t infected by the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
In a separate statement, DA Assistant Secretary for Swine and Poultry Dante Palabrica said that based on these results, “news about the bird flu outbreak are untrue.”
Earlier, Palabrica urged the public to ‘trust’ the BAI which has ‘modern’ and ‘reliable’ facilities for AI confirmatory assessments.
De Mesa, meanwhile, said current spikes in egg prices may be attributed to the opening of classes and the effects of
floods in some warehouses due to the enhanced southwest monsoon and Super Typhoon Carina.
To date, prices of medium eggs in Metro Manila range from PHP8.60 to PHP8.50 each, according to the DA-Bantay Presyo (price watch).
Temporary ban lifted
Meanwhile, the DA has lifted the import ban on poultry products from Japan.
As per DA Memorandum Order No. 31, the Philippines may resume importing live poultry, poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen from Japan.
The lifting of the temporary ban was made following Japan’s report to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) that it is now AI-free.
Since June 2, Japan has not reported additional cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.
Source: Philippines News Agency
