MANILA – There will be no spike in prices of eggs and chicken during the holiday season despite the detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N2 in a duck farm in Camarines Norte, the Department of Agriculture (DA) assured Thursday.
This was after the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) confirmed the active case in the said area on December 6, which makes it the second area with active AI cases following Pandi, Bulacan.
“We do not see any impact noong pagkakaroon ng active case ng (of the recorded active case of) Avian Influenza or HPAI in Talisay, Camarines Norte. it will not have an impact doon sa (to the) prices,” DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in a Zoom interview.
As of December 11, the prices of whole chicken range from PHP175 per kilogram to PHP240/kg; while the prices of small eggs range from PHP7 per piece to PHP8.75/pc, PHP7.50/pc to PHP9/pc for medium egg, and PHP8/pc to PHP9.60/pc for large egg.
De Mesa, meanwhile, said the BAI is looking into the source of the said strain, which was recorded in the country for the first time.
“Iyong common na tumatama (What’s common is the) H5N1. If you will research, yung H5N1 ay mas virulent at mas makalat kumpara dito sa (is more virulent and transmissible compared to) H5N2,” he said.
De Mesa assured that the DA-BAI will still be stringent in dealing with all transboundary diseases to protect the country’s livestock and poultry industry.
Import ban
The DA, meanwhile, implemented a temporary import ban on domestic and wild birds, as well as poultry products from the Netherlands.
This came following the report of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Netherlands on an additional AI outbreak in Putten, Gelderland on November 17.
Under the import ban, the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances for the importation of domestic and wild birds including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen used for artificial insemination is temporarily suspended.
All imported poultry commodities from the Netherlands will be confiscated except for those already in transit or have arrived at local ports after the issuance of the order, as well as the slaughtered poultry products on or before November 3. (PNA)