Gov’t ready to contain bird flu – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Even as the country confronts the rising infection of people with COVID-19, Malacañang assured Monday that the government is also ready to control the bird flu detected in Nueva Ecija.

“Kahit na anong klaseng problema, ready tayo diyan eh. Pinaghandaan na natin lahat iyan. Wala tayong choice kung hindi salubungin natin at gawan natin ng paraan,” Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a press briefing.

(Whatever the problem is, we are ready. We are preparing for that. We don’t have a choice but to face it and find a way to solve it.)

“Kumbaga, sinusubukan tayo ng tadhana (It’s like we are being tested by destiny), we have to rise to the challenge of the times,” he added.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) earlier confirmed that live sample quails from Jaen in Nueva Ecija tested positive for the H5N6 Avian flu.

The H5N6 virus belongs to the family of the Influenza A virus or sometimes called “Bird Flu.”  This affects poultry products such as chicken, quails, and other fowl livestock.

Meanwhile, the Philippines is currently under a state of public health emergency due to COVID-19, a respiratory disease that originated from Hubei province in China.

President Rodrigo Duterte also placed the entire Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine where “strict home quarantine shall be implemented in all households; transportation shall be suspended; provision for food and essential services shall be regulated; and heightened presence of uniformed personnel to enforce quarantine procedures will be implemented.”

KGA