The Department of Agriculture (DA) has confirmed the detection of H5N6 strain of avian flu in a quail farm in Jaen, Nueva Ecija.
The agency said the provincial veterinary office of Nueva Ecija received reports of increased mortalities of 1,500 out of 15,000 quails in one farm in the area on March 9.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said a total of 12,000 heads of quail were depopulated and buried which was followed by cleaning and disinfection operations.
“Surveillance around the one-kilometer (km) and 7-km radius will be carried out immediately to ensure the disease has not progressed around the said perimeter. Animal quarantine checkpoints have also been established to restrict the movement of all live domestic birds to and from the one-km radius quarantine area,” Dar said
“We will ensure the incidence will be contained effectively and swiftly to prevent the occurrence of the unfortunate outbreak a few years ago. We would like to emphasize this is a single case affecting one quail farm only,” Dar said.
While highly infectious to poultry species, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) said the H5N6 bird flu virus subtype was the same that affected farms in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija in 2017 and has not caused infections to people living within nearby communities.
Dr. Arlene Vytiaco of the BAI said while there is a possibility of transmission to humans through excretion and secretion, “the chances are very slim” and all four cases worldwide were recorded in China without any mortalities.
“Learning from our 2017 experience, what we will do is test and cull. All poultry species that are within the one- km radius will be tested and only those that will be tested positive will be culled. Unlike from before that we automatically culled all that is located inside the one- km (radius),” Vytiaco said.
The DA will compensate farmers at P10 per head of quail that underwent depopulation.
The DA is partnering with local government units to conduct disease investigation and contact tracing to determine the source of infection but initially, the agency said the disease is likely brought by migratory birds.
To avoid disruptions in the supply of poultry, the DA said transport of day-old chicks, hatching eggs and chicken meat will be allowed provided the source farms have tested negative for avian influenza and encourages poultry stakeholders to report any unusual mortality.
When avian influenza hit the country in 2017, the government culled almost 500,000 heads of layer chickens; broiler chickens; ducks; pigeons; game fowls; native chicken; and quails.
