THE Municipal Government of Magsaysay, Davao del Sur confirmed on Monday, April 4, that it has detected its first case of Avian Influenza H5N1 (bird flu) in Barangay San Isidro.
In a press statement, Municipal Agriculturist Helen Carampatana said the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Davao informed them of the blood sample result Friday evening, April 1. The sample was taken from a duck (itik) in Barangay San Isidro.
“By Saturday [April 2], we immediately proceeded to the area with DA Regulatory Division and Provincial Veterinary Office and on Sunday, we had a depopulation of 3,008 ducks,” Carampatana said.
She said that on March 9, she led her personnel to conduct blood sampling for monitoring and surveillance purposes after DA issued Memorandum Circular 05 over the bird flu outbreak in Manila.
Carampatana said it was learned that the ducks came from President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat.
Mayor Arthur Davin immediately issued Advisory 04 in efforts to prevent the escalation of the disease infection in other parts of the municipality.
Davin provided guidelines for the movement of domestic and wild birds as stipulated in DA-Memorandum Circular 05 and Municipal Ordinance 03-2006.
He ordered the activation of required quarantine procedures in all borders with the mobilization of Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs), which is headed by the respective punong barangay to maximize efforts at the grassroots level and provide assistance to the local government in the implementation of the AI prevention program.
DA-Davao Avian Flu focal person Armie Capuyan said the virus was detected from a flock of ducks transported from Soccsksargen.
"Ang flock mismo... mga ducks ay hindi taga dito. Ito sila 'yung case na nakapasok sila dito sa Region 11 (Davao Region) before napabalitaan na meron sa Region 12 (Soccsksargen) na kaso ng Avian Influenza (The flock of ducks came from a different region. This is a case wherein the flock was able to enter Region 11 prior to the reported case of Avian Influenza in Region 12," Capuyan told SunStar Davao in a phone interview.
She said the ducks were transported for breeding purposes.
The DA issued Circular 6 Series of 2022 on March 29, banning the transport of domestic and captured wild birds and poultry products and by-products in areas where there are confirmed cases, namely, Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna, Camarines Sur, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Tarlac, Sultan Kudarat, and Benguet.
Upon issuance of the DA memo, Capuyan said the entire Davao Region immediately blocked its borders to Soccsksargen. However, the live infected ducks already reached Davao del Sur before the border lockdown was implemented.
She said the DA immediately conducted surveillance testing, wherein samples were taken. The samples eventually tested positive for the avian flu.
The office immediately conducted a depopulation process of the entire flock, and imposed a one kilometer-radius surveillance from the affected area.
"Whole flock talaga ang dine-depopulate (We depopulated an entire flock) as part of our disease control," she said.
Capuyan clarified, however, that no other poultry from the region had been infected with the bird disease, but there will be an intensified biosurveillance in all poultry farms in the region to curb the spread of the disease.
Exporting of poultry animals and its by-products outside the region, except those coming from bird flu-infected area, remains unhampered, she clarified.
Meanwhile, the Magsaysay government and Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) issued Advisory 4, the municipality will be required to comply with the guidelines for the movement of domestic and wild birds as stipulated on the DA Memorandum Circular 05-2022 and Municipal Ordinance 03-2006.
According to the advisory, movement of poultry products from within the quarantined area must be tested.
For chicken, duck, and ducks, they must be tested five days prior to harvest. While exportation of table eggs/quail eggs/balut/salted eggs must have a latest monthly negative test result, and two-week in-farm quarantine period upon arrival monitored by the Provincial Veterinary Office and Regional Veterinary Quarantine Office (RVQO), subjected to farm biosecurity protocol.
Poultry and its by-products out of the surveillance area will be allowed, provided the source farm must have a negative test result.
In a press release, Secretary William Dar said biosafety protocols should be intensified to maintain effective containment of the virus.
“Nandito na sa atin, pero maganda po ang ugnayan ng (It’s here, but there’s good coordination among the) Bureau of Animal Industry, regional field offices, and the Department of Health, so under control po ito (it’s under control),” he said.
In an earlier statement, Dar said immediate action is needed to avoid the disease from spreading to other regions.
“The avian influenza virus detected is of subtype H5N1, which is also a threat to human health. This is the very reason we have to double our efforts in controlling and containing bird flu, and we can accomplish this through cooperation,” he said.
According to the World Health Organization, humans can be infected with avian viruses.
Human infections are primarily acquired through direct contact with infected animals or contaminated environments, these viruses have not acquired the ability of sustained transmission among humans.