Bird Flu Outbreak Hits Philippines

An outbreak of bird flu has killed 37,000 chickens, ducks and quails in six poultry farms in the Philippines

State authorities in the country have reported its first outbreak of bird flu and would cull nearly half a million birds to contain the disease, an official said.

No transmission to humans has so far been reported, according to Agriculture Secretary, Emmanuel Pinol.

The outbreak has killed 37,000 chickens, ducks and quails in six poultry farms in the town of San Luis, in Pampanga province, 50 kilometres north of Manila, Pinol said.

“We will cull 400,000 birds within a one-kilometre area, we don’t want the disease to spread,” Pinol said.

Pinol said that the Department of Agriculture has stopped the shipment of all poultry products from the northern region of Luzon to other parts of the country.

Authorities also have started an investigation to determine the source of the virus, which they said could have come from migratory birds or smuggled ducks from China.