CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Avian influenza has made a comeback in Central Luzon under the highly pathogenic strain H5N6, according to Agriculture Secretary William Dar Monday, March 16.

Dar said there is a slim chance that the virus can be transmitted to humans. H5N6 is a virus far less deadly than H5N1.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the virus was detected in a quail farm in the town of Jaen in Nueva Ecija province. Some 1,500 to 15,000 quails died in a farm in Barangay Ulanin-Pitak, prompting DA officers to initiate testing protocols on March 13.

The DA said that 30 live quails from the affected farm tested positive for the virus.

Dar said a total of 12,000 quails from the farm have been culled and buried on March 14.

Dar said quarantine protocols have been in place in the area with a one-kilometer radius designated as a quarantine zone, while some seven kilometers beyond that will be a surveillance zone. Farms in the said areas will be monitored but the DA will no longer cull farm populations in the quarantine areas.

It could be remembered that Avian Influenza hit farms in San Luis, Pampanga and the towns of Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija in 2017. Studies show that persons infected with avian influenza are relatively few compared to seasonal human flu.