MANILA, 29 September 2005 — Agriculture Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban has called on Asian countries to step up the campaign against bird flu in the Asian region following reports of avian flu infestation in other countries.

He urged them to include in the Asian security protocol the banning of cockfighting to discourage importation of fighting cocks or any birds that are possible carriers of AI virus causing fever and manifested as flu killing infected people in the Asian region.

Ruben Pascual, chair of the Poultry Sector Board, confirmed to Arab News that the Philippines had taken the lead by banning cockfights in areas suspected of virus infestation.

“Prohibing cockfighting is specified in the security protocol that includes banning, sale and movement of any poultry including game cocks,” he said.

The government banned cockfights within the three-kilometer radius of the suspected barangay or village in Calumpit, Bulacan, since July when a suspected avian flu case was found in the place.

The ban, however, was lifted recently after the Australian laboratory declared the quarantined area safe, specifying that the virus found in the blood samples of infected fowls did not manifest avian flu infestation.

On July 9 and 27, the Office International des Epizooties (OIE)-Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the world animal health organization, announced in its website the invalidation of detection of AI in the Philippines, thus confirming the AI-free status of the country.

“We are fortunate that we were able to recover quickly from a suspected AI infection in ducks in an isolated farm in Calumpit.... We were able to put into action the AI biosecurity protocols which set into motion the establishment of a three-kilometer quarantine zone which banned the movement and sale of poultry as well as the staging of cockfights,” Panganiban said in a press release.

He credited the private sector and the local government of Bulacan for the “close cooperation and coordination during the crisis.”

The Department of Agriculture has embarked on an “intensive multi-pronged strategy” to keep the Philippines bird-flu free amid global calls for international partnerships against the bird flu threat in the wake of mounting fears that millions of people could die unless drastic counter measures are put in place.

“The disease has continued to spread in many neighboring Asian countries. Active infection in migratory birds in Russia and China were also confirmed. This twin development poses a real threat to the country because of the close borders with AI-affected countries and that the Philippines is in the path of migratory birds traveling from northern countries to escape the severe winter season,” Panganiban said.

He said the AI defense program involves strict border controls, intensive field surveillance of habitats of migratory birds, education and information campaigns, training of government veterinarians and upgrading of national and regional animal health laboratories. The program will involve the various agencies, including the departments of health, environment, agriculture, local government as well as the Bureau of Customs and national police.

“Local government units will be mobilized and the private sector will be actively involved,” Panganiban added.

“I am also pleased to announce no active infection on poultry animals have so far been detected in the ongoing surveillance of 20 critical areas that are habitats of migratory birds,” Panganiban said.

Panganiban also ordered the Bureau of Animal Industry and the department’s regional and provincial officers especially in the coastal towns of southern and western Mindanao to monitor the entry of live birds especially from AI affected countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, and immediately destroy these animals.

Earlier, authorities seized and destroyed some 50 parrots in General Santos City, which reportedly came from Indonesia.