Department of Agriculture Investigates Unconfirmed Bird Flu Reports in Tarlac

TARLAC CITY — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is currently investigating reports of a possible avian influenza (AI) or bird flu outbreak in Tarlac province, following claims circulated by local media. DA officials have stated that there is no confirmation of an outbreak as investigations continue.

According to Philippines News Agency, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has yet to receive any official reports from the local government concerning the alleged outbreak. “There’s no confirmatory and mostly it’s just technically gossip that’s happening. So, BAI has not received any official report of such outbreak,” Laurel said during an ambush interview. In response to the rumors, BAI has collected blood samples from three farms in the area for testing.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Constante Palabrica, in a separate interview, emphasized the reliability of the testing procedures, noting that results from the BAI’s modern AI laboratory are expected within the week. “As I said, we have a modern AI laboratory in BAI… Once they come out with the results, if they say AI negative, don’t doubt it. When they say AI positive, don’t doubt,” Palabrica stated, adding that they will publicly announce the results once verified.

Palabrica also assured that if the tests return positive, measures to control the spread of AI are ready to be implemented swiftly. Unlike African swine fever (ASF), which can linger for years, AI can be controlled by culling all affected poultry and resting the farms for six months before repopulating.

Secretary Laurel further reassured the public regarding the country’s egg supply, suggesting that even a positive AI result would not significantly impact overall stability. “For our eggs right now, we have an overproduction of eggs. I think there’s ample supply and Batangas is a very good source for the supply. So, I don’t think there’s an issue,” he noted.