Two bird flu cases confirmed in Nueva Ecija

Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol on Friday morning confirmed that there are two farms in Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija that were affected by the avian influenza.

The confirmation of the bird flu cases in Nueva Ecija came a week after Piñol said there was a bird flu outbreak in Barangay San Agustin, San Luis, Pampanga. 

"Ito pong official confirmation is a result of a series of laboratory tests conducted following the receipt of earlier reports from the farmers themselves and the officials of Nueva Ecija," Piñol said.

He said the bird flu outbreak in Nueva Ecija happened in a quail and layer poultry farm.

The Agriculture chief said that the farms have been contained and they have already declared a 1-kilometer quarantine radius.

"Dalawa pong farms ang ground zero dito. Ang isang farm ay quail farm at ayon sa initial report na natanggap ko, ubos na 'yung pugo sa farm na 'yon. But na-contain na natin 'yung area, nag-declare na tayo ng 1-kilometer contained radius. And then the other town is San Isidro, isang layer farm na ang total population is about 20,000 hectares and ang ating mga tao ay nakapag-setup na rin po," Piñol said.

He added that the virus is similar in the previous case in San Luis, Pampanga which is Type A subtype H5. However, they have yet to identify the N strain of the virus, noting that the specimen has been submitted to Australia.

"Well as usual as in the previous case, 'yun pong andoon sa Nueva Ecija would still be the same strain as in San Luis, H5. Hindi pa po natin ma-determine 'yung N, 'yung N strain pero type H5. Malalaman po natin 'yung resulta ng test sa Australia within a week," he said.

Fowls from the ground zero in San Luis, Pampanga might have been transported to the said areas in Nueva Ecija according to Piñol.

"Ibig sabihin two weeks ahead of the report sa San Luis, Pampanga, meron na sigurong itik or manok or whatever na nadala from the ground zero of San Luis to other parts of Nueva Ecija kaya ngayon lang nagmanifest after 21 days," he said.

All fowls within the 1-kilometer radius of the affected farms will be culled, while those within the 7-kilometer radius will be banned from being transported outside the province.

Piñol said that the 21-day quarantine period for Luzon will be moved again in lieu of the recent outbreak in Nueva Ecija.

"Dapat next week or two weeks from now malilift na natin yung Luzon ban pero with this latest development magbibilang nanaman tayo ng another 21 days," he said.

Quarantine stations

Meanwhile, Piñol assured that the situation will be easily contained as they have already established quarantine stations prior to the confirmation of the influenza in Nueva Ecija.

"Actually right after we received the report even before the confirmation ay nag-set up na tayo ng quarantine stations so madali po nating matapos itong problema sa Jaen at San Isidro," he said.

Last week, Piñol revealed that the outbreak of avian influenza Type A subtype H5 happened in a quail farm in Pampanga before spreading to poultry farms.

Nueva Ecija Provincial Administrator Attorney Alejandro Abesamis, in an earlier interview with radio dzBB on Friday, said the samples extracted from a layer poultry farm in Barangay San Roque in San Isidro still has to undergo a series of confirmatory tests.

Abesamis said only 50 cases of mortality among the flock of 28,000 chickens were reported, an amount far from the mortality rate considered at risk of bird flu.

Another possible avian flu case was reported in the municipality of Aliaga but laboratory test results debunked the suspicions.

However, the province still took precautions.

Authorities in Nueva Ecija have set up checkpoints near the 7-kilometer area, Abesamis said.

"May restriction po kami. 'Yung transport po ng poultry product kailangan sufficiently documented. May checkpoints kami na dapat meron [maipakita] siyang permit like veterinary sa paglabas at pagpasok," he added.

The workers of the farm have also undergone laboratory tests and were negative of the avian flu.

The Department of Agriculture proposed the depopulation of the farm. The DA also said it will compensate the farm P80 per chicken.

The Provincial Veterinary Office of Nueva Ecija and DA will meet the poultry farm owner at 11:30 a.m. Friday to discuss depopulation of the flock and the eggs.

The specimen gathered are currently in the hands of Bureau of Animal Industry for a series of  laboratory tests. —Marlly Rome Bondoc and Akari Nakano/KG/RSJ, GMA News