Article by:
Hilda Austria
MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – The provincial government of Pangasinan is implementing a temporary total ban on the entry of all quails and ducks into the province until March 31 amid the reported Avian Influenza or bird flu in the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga.
In Executive Order (EO) No. 14 issued on Feb. 25, Pangasinan Governor Amado Espino III said there is an urgent need to impose the ban to safeguard its poultry industry and to protect the general public from the ill effects of the disease.
“The Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) through its Animal Disease Diagnosis and Reference Laboratory (BAI-ADDRL) conducted a test of those affected birds using the real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and were tested positive of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 strain, commonly known as Bird Flu; the confirmatory test was confirmed by the DA-BAI thru the DA Communications Group posted on February 22 on the DA Website,” the EO read.
Espino has deputized the Provincial Veterinarian Quarantine officers to put up quarantine checkpoints in the possible entry points of quail and duck shippers from all regions, such as the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) and other strategic road lines.
He also directed the local chief executives to strengthen biosafety, hygiene, and sanitation standards in slaughterhouses or abattoirs, public markets, and poultry farms in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
“Farm owners of chickens, turkeys, geese, and other types of poultries must present a certification that the abovementioned poultries, as well as their establishments, are free from Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease to be allowed entry into the province,” he said. (PNA)
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