The Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS), through the Technical Services Division, developed the Technical Bulletin on Avian Influenza (AI) or commonly called Bird Flu. The Bulletin provides information on the food safety issue particularly the general description of the disease and its causative agent or pathogen, virus persistence in food and its adverse health effects in humans, and risk mitigation measures to prevent and control AI virus.
In 2005, the Philippines’ first avian flu was detected in the duck farm in Bulacan. The strain of virus that was found was Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI) which can’t affect public health. However, on August 11, 2017, the detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) subtype A H5N6 was officially reported in the country which was found in San Luis, Pampanga. About 45,000 birds died from the disease while 300,000 birds were killed as part of the management program of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
In 2020, recurrence of the virus was observed in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Rizal. About 12,000 quails died, and at least 38,000 were culled as a mitigating measure. Meanwhile, as part of precautionary measures, importation of poultry products from France, South Korea, the Netherlands and Poland was temporarily ceased
Through its quick response, recently, the Department of Agriculture announced its successful eradication of the virus in the country.
For full details you can check and download the Technical Bulletin through our website www. bafs.da.gov.ph ###