AVAIN FLU SCARE: SAGADA TOWN BANNED BIRD HUNTING
BAGUIO CITY, October 25, 2005 (STAR) The town of Sagada has banned a popular bird-hunting tradition due to fears migratory birds that fly in from China or Europe could be carrying the deadly bird flu virus, an official said Sunday.Trapping migratory birds has been banned in the idyllic mountain resort town to ensure the safety of villagers and tourists, town councilor Dave Gullan said. Hunting usually starts toward the end of the year and lasts till May.
"It’s because of the bird flu threat," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Sagada, a town in Mt. Province popular for its pine trees and ancient burial caves.
A campaign to inform villagers of the danger of bird flu was underway, he said.
Large numbers of villagers and tourists flock each year to Sagada’s Ampacao mountain, bringing lanterns or starting small fires at night to attract migratory birds, which they trap with nets.
The birds, which come to escape the harsh winter months in China and Europe, are attracted by the mild tropical weather of Sagada, located in the Mountain Province up north.
The Philippines has not been hit by the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, which has killed dozens of people in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia. The disease has also ravaged poultry populations in large swaths of Asia, resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of birds. Recently outbreaks have been reported among wild birds in China and Europe.
The Philippines has taken a number of precautionary measures against bird flu, including strict bans on poultry imports from affected countries.
Last month, Environment Secretary Michael Defensor ordered the suspension of permits to import exotic pet birds from 10 Asian countries hit by avian flu, and ordered a tight watch on ports of entry, smuggling routes and 55 swamplands across the Philippine archipelago that draw migratory birds from China, Japan and South Korea.
Monitoring Agusan Marsh
Meanwhile, in a province down South, a team to monitor the avian flu among migratory birds at one of Asia’s biggest marshland — the 140,000-hectare Agusan Marsh — is now being formed by the animal health quarantine of three government agencies.
Agusan del Sur Board member Santiago Cane said the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and the Agusan del Sur Provincial Veterinary Office have teamed up for this project.
Cane, who is chairman of the committees on health and agriculture of the Agusan del Sur Provincial Board, told The STAR that the monitoring team will be getting samples of migratory birds from Agusan Marsh to determine if there are bird flu cases following reports that some of the birds had shown signs of weakening.
Cane said the discovery came after a visit at the Agusan Marsh in April last year by representatives of the United States-based "Book for the Barrios Foundation" headed by Dr. Nancy Harrington.
The foundation, in cooperation with the Agusan del Sur Provincial Government, helped build a "floating library" for children of the lumads (indigenous people) living near Agusan Marsh.
"In our more than three-hour tour at the Agusan Marsh, some of the members of the delegation who were marveling (at) the fabulous sight of the Agusan marsh observed some birds in the area appeared to be somehow weak," Cane told The STAR in an interview.
Cane admitted the Agusan del Sur Provincial Government does not have enough technical capability to monitor bird flu cases at the Agusan Marsh.
"(This is) the reason why we are asking assistance from the national offices of these line government agencies to help us," Cane said.
Blood samples of migratory birds will be examined at the laboratory in the Caraga Regional Office in Butuan City, he noted.
Thousands of migratory birds, mostly heron species, coming from as far as Australia, China and other Asian countries migrate to the Agusan Marsh especially during winter season at their places of origin.
The Agusan Marsh sits within the areas of six river towns of Agusan del Sur, the biggest province among four provinces of Caraga Region in northeastern Mindanao. The province’s area occupies 47 percent of the total land area of Caraga Region.
"In Agusan Marsh, one cannot see land except trees, and water that comes from the Agusan River, the longest river in Mindanao that transverses four provinces and one city.
These are Davao, Compostela Valley, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte and Butuan City where the water flow ends at the Butuan Bay facing Bohol Sea," Cane explained. — AP, Ben Serrano
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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