TARLAC CITY, Tarlac (July 30, 2024) — The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has denied that there is an outbreak of bird flu in Tarlac province.
In a statement released today, BAI said it has not received any official reports of an outbreak.
“… there are no currently confirmed [bird flu] laboratory results reported in the area. The BAI Animal Diagnosis and Reference Laboratory is the sole authority to officially detect and confirm positive cases of bird flu through standardized testing protocols,” it said.
The last officially confirmed case in Tarlac was in December 2023.
Online news outlet Rappler reported the Philippine Egg Board Association saying chickens tested positive for bird flu at a Tarlac commercial farm.
Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Maria Lorna Baculanta said there is no evidence of a bird flu outbreak yet.
“We have been actively collecting blood samples from the farms, and so far, no mortalities have been reported, and the chickens are healthy. Our ongoing blood tests will confirm this,” Baculanta told Rappler.
Meanwhile, Abante Radyo reported that poultry in Capas town were culled. It quoted Samahan ng Agrikultura president Rosendo So as saying that the outbreak in Caps is just an isolated incident in one farm.
The Capas Municipal Veterinary Office told Tarlakenyo.com that there are no bird flu cases in the town.
“There’s no positive test result coming out of [the] jurisdiction of Capas,” it said.
