The Department of Agriculture imposed a temporary ban on bird and poultry imports from Germany and France due to reported occurrence of avian influenza (AI) or bird flue in said areas. This is in step with the government’s sustained efforts to keep the country free of the bird flu virus.
The Philippines along with Brunei and Singapore are the only AI-free countries in Southeast Asia.
Under the Avian Influenza Protection Program (AIPP), the DA is also implementing an Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training (AVET) Program to strengthen the capacity of the field veterinary services, especially at the local level, in designing and managing disease surveillance, conducting outbreak investigation and effective outbreak containment measures.
Besides these measures, 20 critical areas are under surveillance especially during the bird migration season of October to February. (PIA)
