DA completes culling in bird flu-stricken towns in Pampanga

The Department of Agriculture has already completed the culling of fowls in the three towns affected by the avian influenza outbreak, Secretary Manny Piñol said on Thursday.

"As of today, we can safely say that we have completed the culling operations within the 1-kilometer radius of all three towns," Piñol said at a press conference.

The avian influenza outbreak was first reported in San Luis in Pampanga, where the H5N6 strain was detected.

"As of today, all the birds in San Luis which are supposed to be culled have been culled, and the operations that's ongoing is just disinfection," Piñol said.

According to Piñol, a total of 470,640 fowls were culled in San Luis.

These include 331,150 layer chickens, 33,950 broiler chickens, 32,850 ducks, 158 pigeons, 107 game fowls, 255 native chickens, and 72,190 quails.

Aside from this, Piñol said the DA has also culled fowls in the towns of Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija where an outbreak was also reported.

Piñol said the DA has culled 114,850 quails in Jaen, and another 68,950 chicken layers in San Isidro.

Moving forward, Piñol said the DA is now doing all its efforts to isolate the strain.

"We will recover from this," Piñol said. —NB, GMA News