February 9, 2007

 

Philippines to help Indonesia and neighbouring countries against bird flu

 

 

The Philippines will offer its assistance and expertise to Indonesia and other nearby bird-flu affected countries to contain the spread of the dreaded disease, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on February 8.

 

The Philippine Star daily reported that President Arroyo is sending a team to Indonesia to help its people deal with the latest outbreak of bird flu.

 

The President said helping Indonesia and other neighbouring countries is actually a protection as its birds often come to Philippine territories.

 

Mrs. Arroyo said Indonesia has helped the Philippines and added that it was time for the Philippines to reciprocate.

 

The Philippines and Singapore are the only countries in the region that remain bird flu-free. Officials, however, did not say exactly what kind of assistance the government is offering its neighbours.

 

Amid reports that avian influenza vaccine stockpiles in the country are about to expire, President Arroyo said the country is "still very far" from human infection, as there are no reports of bird flu in the country, even in animals.

She added that the country not only remains free of bird flu but it is also unaffected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS and foot-and-mouth disease in livestock. 

 

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said he will travel to Jakarta with Ambassador Efren Abu, special envoy to the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudyohono regarding bird flu.

 

The secretary also said the government is launching a bird flu event next week in the province of Pampanga where many migratory birds flock.

 

A P50-million field laboratory will also be set up in San Fernando, Pampanga that contains testing equipment and vaccines for poultry.

 

The new laboratory contains modern equipment bought with US$340,000 grant from the New Zealand government. 
 
According to Dr Josefina Santos, bird flu technical adviser of the Food and Agriculture Organization three other laboratories of this type will be established in the Central Visayas, the Zamboanga peninsula and Northern Mindanao using a $500,000 grant from the Japan Trust Fund.

 

She said the laboratory here and those proposed in the other regions are capable of immediately determining bird flu infections in blood samples of fowls. These laboratories are located in areas where migratory wild birds converge during the winter months in other countries. Wild birds are believed to be the main vectors of the bird flu virus.

 

Santos said that the foreign grants are channelled through the FAO.

 

The new laboratory in San Fernando contains three sets of testing equipment, including a polymerase chain reaction device, which is capable of giving accurate results in one day.

 

At present, blood samples from fowls in various parts of the country are brought to the Bureau of Animal Industry central laboratory in Metro Manila for such tests. Because of the number of blood samples in need of testing, it takes time before test results are known.

 

The laboratory will also have a "safety cabinet" where blood samples can be stored safely for the duration of the tests.