3000 ducks culled as bird flu hits Davao Sur town

[ASEAN NOW News]

(PNA file photo)

 

DIGOS CITY – A village in Magsaysay town in Davao del Sur has been hit by avian influenza also known as bird flu, officials said Monday.

In a statement, Magsaysay municipal agriculturist Helen Carampatan said blood samples taken on ducks from Barangay San Isidro were found infected with the disease.

The discovery came after municipal agriculture personnel conducted blood sampling of fowls on March 9 for monitoring and surveillance, in anticipation of a possible avian flu outbreak.

This resulted in the culling of at least 3,008 ducks on April 2 in Barangay San Isidro to prevent the spread of the disease to the neighboring villages.

Anthony Allada, municipal information officer, said the ducks were transported to the town from President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat.

As a response, Mayor Arthur Davin immediately issued guidelines for the movement of domestic and wild birds, and activated quarantine procedures in all of its municipal borders.

Davin tasked the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams to "maximize efforts at the grassroots level and provide assistance to the local government in the implementation of the bird flu prevention program."

“Bird flu refers to the disease caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. These viruses naturally spread among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species," the municipal government said in a statement.

Although the virus usually does not infect people, there have been some rare cases of human infection, the local government warned.

"Illnesses in humans from bird flu virus infections have ranged in severity from no symptoms or mild illness to severe disease that resulted in death according to some research about this kind of virus," it said. (PNA)

 

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