In keeping with the government’s sustained efforts to keep the country free of the Avian Influenza (AI) virus, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has imposed a temporary ban on the entry of birds and poultry, including their products, from Bhutan and Denmark but lifted the same import restrictions earlier imposed on France.

DA Secretary Bernie Fondevilla issued two separate directives for this twin action.

The ban was imposed on bird and poultry imports from Bhutan and Denmark after official reports from the World Organization on Animal Health or Office International des Epizooties (OIE) had confirmed outbreaks of the dreaded bird flu virus in these two countries, Fondevilla said.

Fondevilla said the ban on bird and poultry imports from Bhutan and Denmark , along with other emergency measures, were necessary to protect human health and the poultry industry in the Philippines , which has remained free of bird flu ever since the H1N1 strain of this virus struck back in Asia six years ago.

The Philippines along with Brunei and Singapore are the only AI-free countries in Southeast Asia.

The DA directed its quarantine officers and inspectors at all major airports and seaports to stop and confiscate all shipments of live birds, poultry and poultry products into the country originating from Bhutan and Denmark.

Based on a report submitted by Denmark Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Jan Mousing, the OIE confirmed the occurrence of Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI) in a mallard-breeding farm in the

municipality of Naevstved.

The global animal health organization, also, received a report from Tenzin Dhendup of the Ministry of Agriculture in Bhutan that an outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been detected among free range chickens in Phuntsholing, which is located in the province of Chhukha in that country.

In another directive, Fondevilla lifted the ban earlier imposed on bird and poultry imports from France after a report received by the OIE confirmed that bird flu in that country had been successfully eradicated.

On the other hand, Fondevilla explained the ban was after the OIE restored France ’s avian-flu free status on March 2 and the DA’s Bureau of Plant Industry confirmed that the risk of contamination from importing poultry and poultry products from France is negligible.

Dr. Jean Luc Angot of the French Ministry of Agriculture informed the OIE that final cleaning and disinfection operations to wipe out the virus were completed by health authorities last December.

The Department also ordered the immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Veterinary Import Clearances (VQCs) to all imports covering these products from the banned areas.

The World Health Organization reported that as of March 30 this year, there were 492 laboratory-confirmed cases of the bird flu and 291 fatalities from the disease since the H1N1 strain of the virus broke out in Southeast Asia in 2003 and then spread across the rest of the continent, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In other Asian countries like Indonesia, 135 deaths have been recorded so far, while China reported 25 fatalities from the AI virus; 17 in Thailand and; 59 in Vietnam.

Under its Avian Influenza Protection Program (AIPP), the DA is also implementing an Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training (AVET) Program to strengthen the capacity of the field veterinary services, especially at the local level, in designing and managing disease surveillance, conducting outbreak investigation and effective outbreak containment measures.

The government currently has four avian flu testing facilities located in Zamboanga City, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu City and San Fernando in Pampanga.