Philippines opens bird flu lab funded by New Zealand

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Philippines opens bird flu lab funded by New Zealand

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_GEN_PHILIPPINES_BIRD_FLU_ASOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-02-13-05-15-03

<TABLE class=ap-story-table style="veritcal-align: :top" border=0><TBODY><TR class=ap-story-tr><TD class=ap-story-td>By OLIVER TEVES
Associated Press Writer

</TD></TR><TR><TD>MANILA, Philippines (AP)

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

The Philippines opened a New Zealand-funded laboratory to help detect bird flu on Tuesday, as officials allayed fears that a migratory egret that died last week was infected.

The laboratory was set up with a US$340,000 (?262,426) fund from the New Zealand government in northern Pampanga province, where a large swamp attracts migratory birds which could carry bird flu from infected countries, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said.

"That is part of our nationwide campaign to keep the country bird flu-free," he said.

A task force reported "everything is normal" after it checked local birds and poultry in Prieto Diaz town in Sorsogon province, southeast of Manila, where the migratory egret was found ill in a rice paddy and later died, an official said.

The bird was buried soon after it died and no tests have been carried out on the carcass, but officials have cited no further deaths in the areas as evidence that bird flu could be ruled out.

"There were no additional deaths or weaknesses of birds seen in the area," said Dr. Dave Catbagan, director of the Bureau of Animal Industry. "There is no worry because no other deaths were reported."

Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes has called on the public to be alert for signs of bird flu, especially deaths of domestic poultry and migratory birds.

The H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has killed at least 166 people worldwide and prompted the slaughter of millions of birds across Asia since late 2003.

"The Philippines is still bird flu-free, but the threat of the virus is ever present," Reyes said.

He also directed an intensified information campaign on how to prevent the spread of bird flu and heighten the surveillance at airports and seaports to stop the smuggling of wild birds and poultry.

Dr. Samuel Animas, chief of the animal health division of the Bureau of Animal Industry, said the laboratory in San Fernando, capital of Pampanga, will serve as the avian influenza diagnostic center for the Central Luzon region.

It is considered a "high risk" area because one of the country's largest bird sanctuaries - the Candaba Swamp - is close to poultry farms.

He said there were plans for three similar regional laboratories, in the central Philippines and on the main southern island of Mindanao.
There are about 20 bird flu high-risk areas nationwide, he said.

? 2007 The Associated Press.