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Sunday, March 07, 2004
CVO holds ‘chicken fest’
By Lorna C. Hermogeno
REPRESENTATIVES from the National Meat Inspection Commission (NMIC) Region I came to the city to shed light on the issue of bird flu in a seminar conducted recently by the City Veterinary Office (CVO) at the Pangasinan Medical Society in A.B. Fernandez West, Dagupan City.
Dr. Gildo P. Fabros, NMIC regional director, led the team of specialists on the highly pathogenic avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu.
With him were Dr. Lilia Juliana I. Payabyab, Consumer Information Protection & Assistance Division (CIPAD) regional division head; Dr. Jorge M. Bacani, Jr., Meat Science & Technology Division (MSTD) regional division head; Dr. Yvette O. Soller, Plant Operation & Inspection division head and Dr. Cherrie Ann Teaño, laboratory division meat control officer.
Dr. Fernando Banchiran and Dr. Michael P. Maramba of the CVO were on hand to supervise the symposium.
Other participants in the affair included Elmer Lorica, secretary to the mayor; the Dagupan City Meat Vendors Association, MADAVFE, ABS-CBN, Super Radyo and other concerned individuals.
After the symposium, there was a chicken party where everyone partook of fried chicken served by the City Meat Vendors Association to show to the people that chickens in Dagupan are safe to eat.
Dr. Benjamin Bautista, rural heath physician, emphasized the effects of bird flu in humans.
“Bird Flu is transmitted to humans from direct or indirect contact with infected wild ducks and chickens through infected aerosols, discharges and surfaces. Based on present knowledge, there appears to be no risk of transmission of the H5NI virus to humans from raw, chilled or frozen poultry foods, since the virus is easily inactivated by heat, one does not get bird flu from chicken from thoroughly cooked chicken meat,” he said.
There are, Bautista said, a number of reasons why everyone should be concerned with bird flu. One of which is that it causes human illness resulting in death in many cases.
Maramba said influenza A that causes bird flu has the capacity and propensity to mutate and recombine with another subtype of influenza virus in humans, resulting into a totally new influenza A virus type.
He said this new subtype may have the characteristics of the human influenza virus which can be spread from one person to another.
“The absence of immunity to the totally new virus through infection and the fact that there are no existing vaccines… make the human population vulnerable, leading to a high number of cases and deaths worldwide,” Maramba said.
Bird flu or avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds raging from mild to severe forms of illnesses. All birds are thought to be susceptible to infection with avian influenza, though some species are more resistant to infection than others.
With the bird flu’s capacity to cause severe diseases (high pathogenecity) and epidemics, it has led to severe epidemics and mass death of chicken. The poultry industry and food security are feared to be greatly affected leading to enormous economic loss and social repercussions.
The sign and symptoms of bird flu in humans are fever, malaise, myalgia, sore throat and cough. Conjunctivitis, said Maramba, is seen in some patients. “Persistent high fever is another usual sign. X-ray of the chest is useful in detecting early pneumonia,” Maramba pointed out.
To avoid bird flu, consumers and the general public are told to: thoroughly wash hands with soap and water before and after handling chicken meat; clean kitchen surfaces and utensils before and after use; cook chicken well by seeing to it that the boiling temperature is reached; go only to places where there are no wild waterfowl; report to authorities any unusual death or illness of chicken and other birds; and report to authorities any case of respiratory illness with history of exposure to sick or dead chickens and other birds.
(March 7, 2004 issue)
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