Philippines To Keep Country Bird-Flu Free

ZAMBOANGA CITY - While the Philippines is still enjoying the Avian-Influenza Disease (Bird-Flu)-free country status, the Department of Agriculture in the region wants to keep it by conducting a pre-emergency planning activity with various concerned agencies.

The need to protect the “bird-flu-free” status of the country is crucial with the rapid spread of the disease around the globe, not sparing our Asian neighbors such as Indonesia, Thailand, China and South Korea. With them being infected, the chances of disease incursion in the country are great.

In fact, among the twenty critical areas identified as highly vulnerable for contamination are all the provinces in the Zamboanga Peninsula, which includes Zamboanga City, Regional Director Oscar Parawan of the Department of Agriculture (DA-IX) said, according to the Philippine Information Agency in Zamboanga City.

“All bird-flu disaster preparedness should be undertaken in our level considering our vulnerability,” he said.

Zamboanga City’s proximity to Indonesia and Malaysia, and the illegal trade of wildlife is one of the major routes of disease introduction, Parawan explained.

The workshop aims to provide participants with knowledge on the intricacies of emergencies, its root causes, triggering factors and impact, the formulation process of a contingency plan and devising a contingency plan for the Regional Avian Influenza Task Force. The contingency planning in Zamboanga City will start Tuesday and ends on June 1.

Its end goal is to pave the way for inter-government agency resource sharing to ensure swift mobilization of resources through smooth facilitation and coordination. (Mimi Bern-Edaga)

Avian Flu Virus: Unabated Smuggling Of Wild Birds Put RP At Risk

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Darwin Wee / 19 Dec) - The continued smuggling of wild birds in the country and the lack of public awareness about the dreaded Avian Flu virus are putting the Philippines at risk of contamination, a government environmental official warned.

Although, the country is still free from the Avian Flu or H5N1 virus, the Philippines remains vulnerable to the deadly strain unless the smuggling stops and a massive education campaign begins to raise public awareness about the danger pose by infected birds.

"Since the country is on the defense mode, we should also take necessary precautions on the unmonitored slip of illegal wild birds in the country. A proper knowledge of the disease and its symptoms is vital for the country to be free from the bird flu," said specialist Carlo Custodio, chief of the ecosystems management, of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Custodio said that Indonesia, Thailand and other Asian countries have been affected by the outbreak of Avian Flu because of migration of wild birds.

"The spread of the disease is still continues because of bird to human contacts. From shipping to handling, humans are vulnerable to the disease,” he said.

"Seaports, airports, terminals, and other congested places are more at risk as far as the virus is concerned than wetlands where migratory birds temporarily set their homes during the winter season.”

He also cited the lack of basic knowledge about the Avian Flu among government environment workers, particularly those in the provinces. "Even those agencies working in the forefront don't have enough understanding about the Avian Flu virus. If they don’t know anything about it, the risk is even greater for everybody,” Custodio said.

Dr. Miriam Vito, the regional avian influenza coordinator of the Department of Agriculture (DA), said there is low participation among local government units on how to combat the threats of the disease or human contamination.

"Some local government units in the country do not even have their own action plans to prevent the disease. This includes the creation of local task force against avian influenza." she said.

“There is no adequate concern among the Filipinos because they haven't yet realized the negative impact of the disease both economically and socially."

Vito revealed an increasing number of countries inflicted with the H5N1 virus in this year alone.

At least 20 European countries reported to have a "first out-break" cases of Avian Flu since early this year. In Africa, 8 more countries are also affected with the virus; 5 in the Middle East and three in Asia, she said. (Mindanao Examiner)

Zamboanga Forms Task Force To Monitor Migratory Birds

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Darwin Wee / 03 Oct) - Different sectors from all over the Zamboanga Peninsula banded together to prevent the entry of thedeadly avian influenza virus in the southern region as the migration season ofbirds starts again, environment officials said Tuesday.

They said a new task force called “Task Force Wild Bird” was formed to help detect and respond to threats of the dreaded disease, according to Eduardo M. Bisquera, Jr., regional technical director of the Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management Service, of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"The Task Force Wild Bird is an ad hoc group to assist the region'sNational Avian Influenza Task Force primarily to reinforce the monitoring of the government's anti-bird flu program, following the expected influx of migratory birds this year as the winter season takes in the northern and southern part of the world," he told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the task force is composed of law enforcers, academe, environmental groups, non-government organizations, city andprovincial veterinarian and agriculture experts; medical and media practitioners in the region. It will operate as the DENR's "nerve center"which will keep a close watch on the region's more than 10 identified wetlands.

The group will also implement measures that will prevent local fowlsand even humans from venturing into the wetlands where migratory birds are frequently spotted. Zamboanga Peninsula is among the top 20 priority areas being monitoredby the National Avian Influenza Task Force, said Dr. Leo P. Galicia, the regional veterinarian chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

He said Zamboanga Peninsula is vulnerable to the H5N1 virus because of its geographical location being close to Malaysia and Indonesia which have been affected in the past with the avian influenza.

Presently, among countries in Asia, the Philippines remains free from thebird flu virus.

However, Mr. Bisquera said "this should not make uscomplacent."He said the Philippines is part of the so called migratory flyway where thousands of birds pass.

Most of the birds came from as far as Australia, China, Siberia, and Mongolia."Migratory birds are suspected to be carriers of H5N1, which hasalready infected millions of poultry in various parts of the globe,"Mr. Bisquera said.

The DA maintains a series of lectures about the bird flu virus to poultry producers in the region. The Veterinary Quarantine Office has also beefed up its monitoring of chicken products that pass every sea and air ports in the region. (Mindanao Examiner)