THE Department of Agriculture (DA) in Western Visayas is waiting for the official announcement of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) declaring Roxas City, the capital of Capiz province, as bird flu free.
“We are thankful that it did not spread. We are just waiting for the official declaration,” said Engr. Jose Albert Barrogo, OIC-regional executive director of the DA Western Visayas Field Unit, in an interview on Monday.
Barrogo added that the test results from the surveillance they conducted from December 2022 to February 2023 were all negative.
The surveillance was conducted after the first positive case was recorded in Barangay Cagay in Roxas City last December.
“We closed the infected farm and had it disinfected. We depopulated within the one kilometer radius,” he said.
He added that samples were also taken from within the one-kilometer radius, which expanded to seven kilometers and the results were all negative.
Five samples from a secluded farm in the Barangay Cagay were the first recorded cases of the Influenza Virus Type A (IVA) subtype H5N1 in Roxas City.
The H5N1 virus is highly contagious among birds and can be deadly, especially for
domestic poultry, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (PNA)
