Lab test shows no bird flu case in Tarlac

Samples from poultry farms in Tarlac showed no bird flu outbreak in the province, the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Central Luzon announced on Thursday.

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga — Samples from poultry farms in Tarlac showed no bird flu outbreak in the province, the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Central Luzon announced on Thursday.

Citing laboratory test results conducted Wednesday by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), the regional agency said poultry from Tarlac showed that “samples weren’t infected by the highly pathogenic avian influenza” and that there is no cause for worry among consumers and industry players.

“All samples from Tarlac tested negative for the (bird flu) virus. Based on these results, news about the bird flu is untrue,” the DA Region 3 quoted DA Assistant Secretary for Swine and Poultry Dante Palabrica.

READ: BAI: No confirmed bird flu outbreak in Tarlac

Early this week, a newspaper report quoted an official of the Philippine Eggboard Association, an organization of egg farmers, saying that chicken from a poultry farm in Tarlac had tested positive for bird flu.

On Wednesday, the DA Region 3 posted on its social media page BAI’s statement that the latter had not received any official report about the bird flu outbreak from the Tarlac government.

The BAI also said that its Animal Diagnosis and Reference Laboratory “is the sole authority to officially detect and confirm positive cases of bird flu through standardized testing protocols.”

It said that should there be any confirmed case of bird flu, the public would be informed promptly, and all necessary measures would be taken to address and contain any outbreak. INQ