Implement biosecurity measures, gov’t urged

Concerned over the threat of the avian flu outbreak to public health, two senators on Monday urged government agencies and poultry farms to implement measures that would ensure that infected fowl do not reach the market.

In a news briefing, Sen. JV Ejercito said the Senate committee on health, which he chairs, would monitor closely the outbreak but expressed confidence that the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) were on top of the situation.

“I think the DA and the DOH will investigate whether the owners of the poultry farms were negligent in reporting … but the more important thing right now is to really contain the outbreak and it doesn’t reach the market because Filipinos are generally chicken lovers,” Ejercito told reporters.

Sen. Nancy Binay said the national government and local governments, as well as poultry and gamefowl farms, should conduct and implement biosecurity measures and farm hygiene to contain the spread of the disease.

These measures include the isolation of infected birds, sanitation and disinfection of facilities and workers, and controlling traffic of people and flocks in and out of farms.

Enforcing biosecurity will help prevent the possible transmission of bird flu from poultry to humans, Binay said.

“Backyard and gamefowl farms should also be included in the implementation of biosecurity plans because we know that there is more contact between birds and humans in gamefowl farms and in cockpits,” she said.