Poultry products from Luzon now banned in Cebu City

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has declared on March 10, 2022, the banning of all poultry products from Luzon following a bird flu outbreak among quail and duck farms in Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna, and Camarines Sur.

Rama told reporters in a phone interview that the city will adopt the Executive Order of Provincial Governor Gwendolyn Garcia banning all poultry products and byproducts.

This marching order will be immediately implemented in the city’s seaports until the mayor releases a directive providing a detailed policy on the ban.

“Actually, I am very happy with the governor because we are talking about one island. We have to be concerned about this. As of now, we will adopt the measures of the province even without a directive,” said Rama.

Rama will no longer issue his own Executive Order (EO) only a directive within the day or tomorrow, March 10, 2022.

Doctor Jessica Maribojoc, head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF) said that they awaiting the mayor’s directive as they have already banned the entry of poultry products into the city.

“More of itlog og mga balut ang bagsakan diri sa Cebu City. Giinform na nato ang mga supermarket ug supervisors sa mga public or private merkado nga before sila moreceive og itlog or balut dapat moagi gyod nato diri sa DVMF,” said Maribojoc.

In the past weeks, the DVMF has already begun surveillance on all poultry products in the city. These include eggs, balut, live domesticated fowls, and even fertilizers made out of fowl wastes.

They will also be conducting inspections, swabbing, and testing in the few poultry farms in the city including a quail farm in Barangay Pardo to check for the bird flu.

So far, Cebu City is still bird flu-free and the DVMF aims to keep it that way.

No longer waiting for a written directive from the mayor, the DVMF has informed the animal quarantine officers in the ports of the ban of poultry products from Luzon.

So since March 8, 2022, the city has already closed its borders to poultry products from the said areas.

“Uniform lang sa ta (with Cebu). Naa lang tay iadd sa gibutang sa province nga additional policies. Butangan og guidelines kung asa gikan ang product kung gikan mainland Cebu, other islands, or Mindanao ba siya, mao among idungag,” said the chief veterinarian.

Supply stable

Even if the city will close its borders from Luzon poultry products, Maribojoc said this will not gravely affect the supply of poultry in the city.

The city still sources a majority of its poultry from Cebu Province, which places it in a stable position when it comes to supply.

“Good thing nga sa province, daghan tag poultry farms so maka sustain ra ta,” said the chief veterinarian.

The public should not worry about shortage or any increase of price yet as the booming poultry industry in the Province will most likely suffice for the demand of the entire island, Maribojc informed.

This is also why the ban is imposed, to protect the multimillion poultry industry on the entire island.

“Lugmok na gani ta sa atong hog industry, modungan pa gyod na siya. Dako kaayo na siyag impact if naa na gyod na siya. Kung infected ang area, automatic nga patyon gyod,” said Maribojoc.

Transmissible to human

One of the major concerns of the bird flu is that it can actually infect humans, although human symptoms are relatively mild to that of animals.

Bird flu will manifest flu-like symptoms among humans such as colds and cough. At this time of the pandemic, the symptoms can even be mistaken for COVID although the two viruses are quite different.

Still, the city government wants to keep this new economic threat away as it has slowly reopened in hopes to bounce back from the pandemic and the recent typhoon. /rcg

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