Bulacan declared as Avian Influenza-free province
Mon Lazaro April 29, 2024 at 03:25 PMCITY OF MALOLOS – The province of Bulacan has already been declared avian influenza-free province.
The Provincial Government of Bulacan has announced that Agriculture Sec. Francisco Tiu Laurel declared the province of Bulacan as avian influenza-free province on April 23 this year through Memorandum Circular No. 14, Series of 2024 after 10 confirmed cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Subtype H5N1 in the province were recorded between January 2022 to February 2023.
The HPAsI were previously detected in the City of Baliwag and Municipalities of San Rafael, San Ildefonso, San Miguel, Santa Maria, and Pulilan affecting poultry farms of ducks, quails, native chickens, chicken layers, broiler breeders, and gamefowls.
However, through the combined efforts of the Provincial Government of Bulacan, Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office III, and Bureau of Animal Industry, the province of Bulacan was able to attain avian influenza-free status by conducting disease investigations, prompt depopulating of affected areas, conducting thorough cleaning and disinfection procedures, enforcing movement restrictions, and implementing surveillance measures in accordance with the Avian Influenza Protection Program (AIPP) guidelines that include continued disease monitoring and surveillance in the one-kilometer and seven-kilometer surveillance zones surrounding the affected farms that yielded negative test results for influenza type A virus.
As these developed, Gov. Daniel Fernando reminded poultry farm stakeholders to always follow biosecurity protocols and promote proper cleaning and disinfection of equipment and surroundings of their respective farms.
File photo: Egor Myznik (Unsplash)