Sally Furniss
Well-known member
3 more avian flu labs up in Visayas, Mindanao
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has announced the setting up of three more avian influenza (AI) diagnostic laboratories in the Visayas and Mindanao.
In a report to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) officer-in-charge Davinio Catbagan said the laboratories are now being built in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Zamboanga.
Catbagan said these laboratories are largely funded by a grant from the Japanese government through the Japan Trust Fund, with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Office Internationale des Epizooties (OIE) or Animal Health Organization providing technical assistance in setting up these facilities.
He said once completed, the additional laboratories will complement the Regional Avian Influenza Diagnostic Laboratory (RAIDL), in Pampanga, which is the country?s first diagnostic facility meant to promptly detect the AI virus.
"Like the RAIDL, the DA would ensure that these additional facilities fully comply with international standards for a biosafety laboratory and would be capable of conducting various tests to swiftly detect the presence of the AI virus in both live and dead bird samples," Catbagan said in a statement.
He added that on top of building more avian flu diagnostic labs, the BAI will be conducting ?real-time simulation exercises" in due time to test the measures already put in place under the Avian Influenza Protection Program (AIPP).
"The BAI is also encouraging poultry farmers to implement security measures to ensure that locally raised fowl continues to be adequately shielded from migratory birds, which are known carriers of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus," Catbagan said.
For his part, Dr. Samuel B. Animas, chief of the BAI Animal Health Division, said the importance of keeping Philippine poultry farms virus-free cannot be underestimated. He said the impact of an AI outbreak on the P160-billion Philippine poultry industry will be devastating.
Animas, who has been designated National Avian Influenza Project Coordinator, said it is critically important that migratory birds are prevented from commingling with locally raised fowl.
Apart from business failures ? from the major league corporate farms to the backyard raisers ? a bird flu outbreak will impact on demand and prices of other staple food items such as pork, beef and fish as consumers shift away from poultry products.
The BAI currently has a team of veterinarians undertaking a nationwide educational campaign for poultry and livestock growers on the threat and perils of the bird flu virus.
Animas said BAI has recently concluded a pilot project with the Japan Trust Fund for the construction of fences as a biosecurity measure.
In case of a suspected outbreak, Animas disclosed that the avian influenza task force has organized a Rapid Action Team that can be mobilized and deployed within 24 hours.
Catbagan said that under the AIPP, the bureau will also set up expanded preparedness and response plans at the provincial, municipal and city levels.
To increase the country?s preparedness level against the bird flu, he said the AIPP will also cover the training of more military men and volunteers to adequately and effectively respond to possible outbreaks.
The BAI will also intensify measures on compartmentalization and zoning to include the widening of the areas covered by disease surveillance, he said.
Catbagan said the Bureau will also intensify its information and education campaign in 20 critical areas prone to AI infection, international borders and coastlines and in areas with high concentrations of ducks.
As of end-July this year, the World Health Organization reported that 192 out of 319 people found in laboratory-confirmed cases to have been infected with the AI virus, have died since the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus resurfaced in the region in 2003 and then spread quickly across the rest of the continent, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. - GMANews.TV
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/57724/3-more-avian-flu-labs-up-in-Visayas-Mindanao
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has announced the setting up of three more avian influenza (AI) diagnostic laboratories in the Visayas and Mindanao.
In a report to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) officer-in-charge Davinio Catbagan said the laboratories are now being built in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Zamboanga.
Catbagan said these laboratories are largely funded by a grant from the Japanese government through the Japan Trust Fund, with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Office Internationale des Epizooties (OIE) or Animal Health Organization providing technical assistance in setting up these facilities.
He said once completed, the additional laboratories will complement the Regional Avian Influenza Diagnostic Laboratory (RAIDL), in Pampanga, which is the country?s first diagnostic facility meant to promptly detect the AI virus.
"Like the RAIDL, the DA would ensure that these additional facilities fully comply with international standards for a biosafety laboratory and would be capable of conducting various tests to swiftly detect the presence of the AI virus in both live and dead bird samples," Catbagan said in a statement.
He added that on top of building more avian flu diagnostic labs, the BAI will be conducting ?real-time simulation exercises" in due time to test the measures already put in place under the Avian Influenza Protection Program (AIPP).
"The BAI is also encouraging poultry farmers to implement security measures to ensure that locally raised fowl continues to be adequately shielded from migratory birds, which are known carriers of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus," Catbagan said.
For his part, Dr. Samuel B. Animas, chief of the BAI Animal Health Division, said the importance of keeping Philippine poultry farms virus-free cannot be underestimated. He said the impact of an AI outbreak on the P160-billion Philippine poultry industry will be devastating.
Animas, who has been designated National Avian Influenza Project Coordinator, said it is critically important that migratory birds are prevented from commingling with locally raised fowl.
Apart from business failures ? from the major league corporate farms to the backyard raisers ? a bird flu outbreak will impact on demand and prices of other staple food items such as pork, beef and fish as consumers shift away from poultry products.
The BAI currently has a team of veterinarians undertaking a nationwide educational campaign for poultry and livestock growers on the threat and perils of the bird flu virus.
Animas said BAI has recently concluded a pilot project with the Japan Trust Fund for the construction of fences as a biosecurity measure.
In case of a suspected outbreak, Animas disclosed that the avian influenza task force has organized a Rapid Action Team that can be mobilized and deployed within 24 hours.
Catbagan said that under the AIPP, the bureau will also set up expanded preparedness and response plans at the provincial, municipal and city levels.
To increase the country?s preparedness level against the bird flu, he said the AIPP will also cover the training of more military men and volunteers to adequately and effectively respond to possible outbreaks.
The BAI will also intensify measures on compartmentalization and zoning to include the widening of the areas covered by disease surveillance, he said.
Catbagan said the Bureau will also intensify its information and education campaign in 20 critical areas prone to AI infection, international borders and coastlines and in areas with high concentrations of ducks.
As of end-July this year, the World Health Organization reported that 192 out of 319 people found in laboratory-confirmed cases to have been infected with the AI virus, have died since the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus resurfaced in the region in 2003 and then spread quickly across the rest of the continent, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. - GMANews.TV
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/57724/3-more-avian-flu-labs-up-in-Visayas-Mindanao