PHILIPPINES: MANILA PRESS CONFERENCE BY HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE OFFICIALS EATING FRIED CHICKEN AFTER IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT IT HAD SUFFERED ITS FIRST CASE OF BIRD FLU.

Record ID: 645111

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: MANILA PRESS CONFERENCE BY HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE OFFICIALS EATING FRIED CHICKEN AFTER IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT IT HAD SUFFERED ITS FIRST CASE OF BIRD FLU.
  • Date: 8th July 2005
  • Summary: (BN08) MANILA, PHILIPPINES (JULY 8, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. MV: PHOTO SESSION OF PHILIPPINE HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE OFFICIALS EATING FRIED CHICKEN. 0.05 2. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) AGRICULTURE SECRETARY ARTHUR YAP SAYING: "I would like to report the detection of an avian influenza strain in the country after a series of laboratory analysis and tests the Bureau of Animals Industry detected the presence of a low-risk flu strain in ducks in small isolated farm outside of Manila. The ducks remain healthy and not a single mortality has been recorded in the said farm. I would like to stress it is a low-risk flu strain. The disease, the avian influenza disease is not here. Chickens in the same farm and the nearby farms continue to be AI-free and chickens are not affected." 0.45 3. WS: OF BRIEFING. 0.51 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 23rd July 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
  • Country: Philippines
  • Reuters ID: LVADS27EIJJG0XPNBE4OREAWVPNT
  • Story Text: First case of bird flu hits the Philippines.



    The Philippines announced on Friday (July 8) that
    it has suffered its first case of bird flu after ducks were
    found to be infected in a town north of Manila.

    Health Secretary Francisco Duque said samples had been
    sent to Australia to determine whether the strain of avian
    influenza was the same as the one that has killed dozens of
    people elsewhere in Asia.

    Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said that it would
    stop exports of poultry products to Japan following the
    discovery of the strain. Yap said the move was a
    "voluntary" decision by the private sector.

    At a news conference, Yap along with other agriculture
    officials ate fried chicken to reassure the public that the
    strain found is "low-risk" and poses no threat.

    "I would like to report the detection of an avian
    influenza strain in the country after a series of
    laboratory analysis and tests the Bureau of Animals
    Industry detected the presence of a low-risk flu strain in
    ducks in small isolated farm outside of Manila. The ducks
    remain healthy and not a single mortality has been recorded
    in the said farm. I would like to stress it is a low risk
    flu strain. The disease, the avian influenza disease is not
    here. Chickens in the same farm and the nearby farms
    continue to be AI free and chickens are not affected," Yap
    said.

    A quarantine zone had been set up around the town of
    Calumpit in Bulacan province to halt the trading and sale
    of poultry for a week, he said.

    The H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus has killed
    54 people of 154 infected in Asia so far. More than 140
    million chickens have been killed in the region to halt
    bird flu, causing millions of dollars of losses.


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