Bulacan declared bird flu-free

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has officially declared Bulacan free from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), or bird flu, nearly a year after the confirmed outbreak of the animal disease in the province.

In a statement on Thursday, the DA said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. declared Bulacan province bird flu-free after “extensive disease surveillance yielded negative results for the virus in and around the affected area.”

The Agriculture Department said the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, which hit a commercial duck farm in the municipality of Pandi, was confirmed via RT-PCR testing in December last year.

The DA said that following the confirmation of the outbreak, the provincial government of Bulacan, in coordination with the local government unit of Pandi, the DA Regional Field Office III (DARFO III), and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), swiftly activated disease control protocols under the Avian Influenza Protection Program (AIPP). 

Control measures included immediate depopulation, cleaning and disinfection of affected premises, imposition of movement restrictions, and intensive monitoring within the one-kilometer and seven-kilometer surveillance zones, according to the DA.

“Subsequent surveillance showed no further presence of the influenza type A virus, meeting the criteria of the World Organization for Animal Health’s (WOAH) Terrestrial Animal Health Code,” the agency said.

The DA said Bulacan had previously reported HPAI H5N1 cases in 2022 and 2023 but successfully regained disease-free status each time through rapid response and biosecurity enforcement.

The Agriculture Department said that any future confirmed outbreaks “will immediately trigger a revocation of this declaration and reimposition of containment measures.” — VBL, GMA Integrated News