MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines will cull 200,000 chickens, quails and ducks after confirming the country's first outbreak of bird flu, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said on Friday.
The avian flu outbreak was detected in a farm in San Luis municipality in Pampanga province, north of the capital Manila, which later spread to five neighboring farms. There has been no case of human transmission although health officials are conducting checks on farm workers.
"We have declared a 1-km (0.6 mile) quarantine radius with the epicenter being San Luis. All fowls found within the area will be culled and buried, and the estimated population is 200,000," Pinol told reporters at a news conference.
"That would include every bird, every duck, every quail, every poultry within the vicinity of the quarantine area."
The volume of birds to be culled was half of Pinol's initial estimate of 400,000, which he said was based on a preliminary evaluation and was later revised after inspection.
Initial tests ruled out the highly pathogenic H5N1 as the virus strain, Dr. Celia Carlos told reporters, and samples will be sent to Australia for further testing.
The avian flu outbreak was detected in a farm in San Luis municipality in Pampanga province, north of the capital Manila, which later spread to five neighboring farms. There has been no case of human transmission although health officials are conducting checks on farm workers.
"We have declared a 1-km (0.6 mile) quarantine radius with the epicenter being San Luis. All fowls found within the area will be culled and buried, and the estimated population is 200,000," Pinol told reporters at a news conference.
"That would include every bird, every duck, every quail, every poultry within the vicinity of the quarantine area."
The volume of birds to be culled was half of Pinol's initial estimate of 400,000, which he said was based on a preliminary evaluation and was later revised after inspection.
Initial tests ruled out the highly pathogenic H5N1 as the virus strain, Dr. Celia Carlos told reporters, and samples will be sent to Australia for further testing.
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