Culling of birds in avian flu-infested San Luis to take six days

Culling some 200,000 birds affected by the avian influenza virus will take six days to complete due to a shortage in manpower, the Department of Agriculture (DA) revealed on Monday.

"We have to adjust po. So this will run about five to six days," Arlene Vystacio, head of the Animal Disease Control Section of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), said in a press briefing in Quezon City.

"As of last night ... ang total po na na-cull ay 18,685," Vystacio said.

The DA earlier said the plan was to finish culling 200,000 birds on Monday.

"Ang problema po namin dito ay 'yung manpower, 'yung mga tao na maghahawak," Vystacio said.

"Lahat ng member ng culling team dapat properly attired. Init na init sila, kaya mas madali silang mapagod kaya they have to rest din in between. Otherwise, mag-co-collapse sila," she added.

The Department of Agriculture has recruited more employees to handle the culling of the infected birds. — VDS, GMA News