CEBU CITY, Philippines—The bird flu spreading in Nueva Ecija will most likely not hit Cebu City with its ports closed from ships from other islands due to the coronavirus threat.
However, a possible shortage is looming for the highly urbanized city as it does not have its own sustainable poultry industry.
According to Doctor Jennifer Laurente, the head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF), Cebu City consumes and estimated 1.2 million chickens in one month.
Luzon imports are currently stopped with the intensified community quarantine in Metro Manila, where northern Luzon and southern Luzon chickens are shipped from.
This makes Cebu City safe from the avian flu, but also causes a minimal decrease in supply of chicken and a significant decrease in supply of eggs.
Still, the DVMF intensified its monitoring of egg entry into the city to ensure that no avian flu can enter.
“We are very careful with regards to our eggs because we source most of them from Luzon. We are strict with checking the documents because avian flu can be carried in eggs,” said Laurente.
The city’s veterinarian also said that Cebu City sources most of its chicken supply from nearby cities and towns in Cebu Island including Naga City.
So far, the supply is still stable and there is no shortage of chicken in the city.
Laurente said that when it comes to avian flu, H5N6, it spreads through discharges of birds and can infect humans.
The problem is not just about Luzon birds infecting Cebu birds, spreading the disease among its species and affecting the industry, but also causing harm to the human handlers.
She said humans can infect humans just as easily as birds can infect humans. But there has been no recorded human infection of bird flu in the Philippines in the past.
Laurente assured the public that strict monitoring has been put in place to ensure that no avian flu infected chicken can enter Cebu City including infected eggs. /bmjo