THE City Government of Bacolod continues to monitor the entry of poultry products in the city in the wake of the bird flu outbreak in Luzon.
Dr. Grace Tan, head of the City Health Office (CHO) Environment Sanitation Division, said Wednesday, August 30, the CHO along with the City Veterinary Office (CVO) and City Agriculture Office (CAO) deployed personnel to monitor the entry of poultry products in sea ports, airports, and transport terminals.
This, after the City Council had earlier approved a resolution requesting the CAO to be prepared with protocols in handling cases of bird flu outbreak.
The resolution was authored by Councilor Sonya Verdeflor, who said that it is imperative that the CAO should be vigilant in monitoring this situation and be prepared with the protocols in the handling of live chickens, ducks, dressed chicken and eggs, to protect poultry farmers and the poultry industry in Bacolod.
Tan said the Department of Agriculture (DA) had earlier lifted the ban on the shipment of poultry products from Luzon to Visayas and Mindanao so their team will only inspect the documents of the poultry products from the areas with bird flu cases.
She said the quarantine officers from the Veterinary Quarantine Services of the Bureau of Animal Industry were also deployed in ports of entry to validate the documents and the status of the poultry products.
George Presquito Jr. of the CVO said on August 17, they conducted surveillance in Barangays Granada, Alangilan, Cabug and Mansilingan with big populations of game fowls and poultry in Bacolod.
“We are encouraging them to inform us if they have cases of dying chicken,” he said.
He added they already inspected 10 poultry farms in various areas and there are no cases of avian flu.