ILOILO CITY, Philippines, February 9 (IslamOnline.net) - The country’s poultry industry is expected to receive a boost from exports in the wake of the dreaded bird flu, which has brought worldwide health concerns.

In a statement sent to IslamOnline.net Monday, February 9, Filipino Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar Purisima said that there is currently an oversupply of chickens in the country and that the Philippines is looking at exporting chickens to some countries in Asia, particularly Japan.

"The importation of some Asian countries of local chickens will help the sector recover from their losses," Purisima said.

Poultry raisers are experiencing a tight competition from chicken importers whose products cost lower. In this country’s free market, importation of chicken has been resorted to, particularly during holidays, to meet the market demand and to stabilize the price.

Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation is set to import 30,000 metric tons of dressed chickens from the Philippines, which was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as free from the highly-contagious avian flu.

Vietnam and Brunei have also made inquiries to buy chickens from Filipino poultry farms to replace their regular imports from China and Thailand which are plagued by the avian flu.

Warning On Migratory Birds

Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr., along with Purisima and Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit, vouched for the safety of locally-bred and available chickens. Lorenzo, however, issued a warning on migratory birds.

He said local residents and villagers in areas where migratory birds such as wild duck, geese, herons and egrets from around Asia and the Pacific normally flock, should avoid contact with any of these winged animals, or should not even go near them, as they are highly potential carriers of the deadly virus.

The Protected Area and Wildlife Bureau of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources has identified the Candaba swamp in Pampanga, the Olango Bay in Mactan, Cebu, and Naujan Bay in Oriental Mindoro as some of the country’s bird sanctuaries on which winged animals from as far as Alaska, Japan, Korea and China temporarily seek refuge in search of food and to escape cold weather.

Lorenzo further said while veterinary quarantine officers from the Bureau of Animal Industry have been working round the clock in seaports and airports to strictly monitor the unlawful entry of chicken from southeast and northeast Asian countries, biosecurity measures at the farm and field level are equally effective in preventing the possible entry of the bird flu virus into the country.

"No amount of government intervention can spare us with the bird flu unless all of us do our part and cooperate in achieving the common good," Lorenzo told IslamOnline.net.

Avian influenza, or "bird flu", which has claimed at least 14 lives, is a contagious disease of animals caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs. Thousands of chickens were killed in Vietnam, Japan, Thailand and other countries, to contain the virus.

According to the World Health Organization, while all bird species are thought to be susceptible to infection, domestic poultry flocks are especially vulnerable to infections that can rapidly reach epidemic proportions.

The disease in birds has two forms. The first causes mild illness, sometimes expressed only as ruffled feathers or reduced egg production.

Of greater concern is the second form, known as “highly pathogenic avian influenza”. This form, which was first recognized in Italy in 1878, is extremely contagious in birds and rapidly fatal, with a mortality approaching 100%. Birds can die on the same day that symptoms first appear.

It also said that since mid-December 2003, a growing number of Asian countries have reported outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in chickens and ducks. Infections in several species of wild birds and in pigs have also been reported.

According to WHO, the rapid spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, with outbreaks occurring at the same time in several countries, is historically unprecedented and of great concern for human health as well as for agriculture.