THE Provincial Government of Negros Occidental has already sent to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol the request of two local gamefowl breeders associations to extend the shipment ban specifically for fighting cocks in the province amid the recent bird flu outbreak in Luzon.
Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena said the request, coursed through the Office of the Vice Governor, was sent to the Department of Agriculture (DA) Central Office in Manila Thursday, August 24.
On Wednesday, the Provincial Board passed a resolution approving the request of the Negros Gamefowl Breeders Association (NGBA) and Gamefowl Breeders Association of Negros (GBAN) for a one-month transport ban extension.
On August 22, the DA lifted the ban on shipments of poultry products from Luzon to Visayas and Mindanao on certain conditions.
Local gamefowl breeders are not yet confident and comfortable with the current situation amid the lifting of the ban.
They are “apprehensive” of the possible impact of the bird flu outbreak to the upcoming national derbies in September, Decena had said.
“We have to wait for the reply of the (DA Secretary),” the provincial veterinarian said, adding that he shares with the sentiments of gamefowl breeders that the upcoming derbies may affect local stocks.
Among the conditions provided for the shipment ban lifting is that products must not be sourced within the seven-kilometer quarantine radius of bird flu affected areas in San Luis, Pampanga and in the towns of Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija.
For gamefowl, the product must pass through two laboratory tests indicating that it is negative of bird flu. There should be veterinary health certificate from the veterinarian, and shipping permit.
Decena said that the lifting of the ban is too soon.
“It should be 21 days after the last day of stamping out,” he added.
The ban extension in the province is more necessary for gamefowl compared to other poultry products because of the commodity’s busy daily movement, he said.
Gamefowl industry is considered the underground economy of Negros Occidental, producing 25,000 to 50,000 ready to fight gamefowls every month.
“Let us join hands to sustain the efforts towards bird-flu free status,” Decena added.
In Bacolod City, Councilor Sonya Verdeflor urged the City Agriculture Office to be prepared with the protocols in handling cases of bird flu outbreak to protect the city’s poultry industry.
Verdeflor, who authored the resolution approved by the City Council, said two new cases of avian influenza have been confirmed by the Bureau of Animal Industry in Jaen and San Isidro towns of Nueva Ecija after a series of laboratory tests on specimens gathered from quails and layer chickens were conducted by the Animal Diseases Detection Laboratory.
“It is imperative that our City Agriculture Office should be vigilant in monitoring this situation and should be prepared with the protocols in the handling of live chickens, ducks, dressed chicken and eggs, in cases of bird flu to protect our poultry farmers and the poultry industry in Bacolod,” Verdeflor added.
