by MA Loterte

Province of SORSOGON (July 12) -- Though recent testing of birds and fowls undertaken by the Department of Agriculture (DA) shows negative for the presence of the bird flu virus, the Provincial Veterinary Office here remains watchful and intensifies its monitoring and campaign to prevent and control the spread of the dangerous H5N1 virus.

Provincial veterinarian Dr. Enrique Espiritu bared that Regional Avian Influenza Diagnostic Laboratory (RAIDL) in San Fernando, Pampanga has so far tested 6,680 samples of birds and fowl in various areas of Luzon that have all tested negative for the presence of this dreaded bird flu virus.

Espiritu, however, reiterated that the possibility of avian influenza coming to the Philippines, including Sorsogon province, is known to be difficult to hedge off.

“We are constantly threatened of the high possibility of its occurrence as it may only be a matter of time,” he said.

Updates from the DA that reached our office, according to Espiritu, the Philippines, along with Singapore and Brunei, are the only countries in Southeast Asia free of AI, which first resurfaced in South Korea in 2003 and then spread quickly across the continent, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Meanwhile, the multi-sectoral Provincial Task Force on Avian Influenza here is closely coordinating with the different LGU, especially areas with resident migratory bird species and along the pathway of bird migration, to intensified IEC drives among residents on basic information on the implication of bird flu to public health.

“To LGU officials and community leaders, we emphasized on them to consistently follow the recommended ways of disposing any suspected virus carrier to prevent any cause of alarm and misleading information,” Espiritu also related.