SAN Luis town Mayor Venancio Macapagal has expressed his gratitude to the Pampanga Provincial Government as well as the National Government for their immediate actions to contain the bird flu outbreak in this town.
In an exclusive interview with SunStar Pampanga, Macapagal said he recognized the guidance and support of key officials led by President Duterte and Governor Lilia Pineda in stamping out bird flu virus which affected dozens of poultry owners.
“The united effort of the local, provincial and national governments and the poultry industry made everything easier. This may be one of the biggest challenges that we’ve faced yet, but through our unity, we are slowly overcoming it,” he said.
He also cited the support shown by his fellow local chief executives and other officials in the province to show that Pampanga's poultry meat is safe as help in the recovery of the poultry industry.
Macapagal said that while the negative effects of the outbreak are still felt in the ground zero, the lessons that it brought, such as the strict implementation of biosecurity, must also be understood.
“The problem was solved, we are slowly recovering. But after all that’s happened, we must not forget the lessons to avoid being victimized by bird flu again,” he said.
The culling of 200,000 bird flu-affected fowls in San Luis town took some 12 days while the disinfection is expected to be finished before the year ends, the Department of Agriculture reported.
While the disinfection is ongoing, bird flu-affected poultries are not allowed to raise fowls to ensure that the virus will be totally cleared.