Philippines reactivates bird flu task force

The Philippines has reactivated its bird flu task force after the government confirmed an avian influenza infection at an egg-producing farm in Pampanga.

The confirmation of bird flu incidence in San Luis, Pampanga on Wednesday came almost a week after the government declared that the fowl disease had been eliminated in Barangay Ulanin-Pitak, Jaen, Nueva Ecija —where the first outbreak was reported.

In a resolution approved on Thursday, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) said the National Avian Influenza Task Force will manage the outbreaks “using multi-agency coordination and collaboration.”

The Secretary of Health is the overall crisis manager with the Secretary of Agriculture as co-manager on bird flu response, according to the executive order signed by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005.

The IATF directed the Department of Agriculture (DA) to strengthen coordination with the Department of Health, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of the Interior and Local Government as well as local government units (LGUs) to do sustained monitoring and surveillance of avian influenza and its possible effects to humans.

The government will also intensify its information campaign that chicken meat and eggs are safe for human consumption and strictly enforce good animal husbandry practices.

It also urged the public to immediately report poultry mortalities to the LGUs and to the DA regional field offices or the Bureau of Animal Industry. — BM, GMA News