TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – This province has been declared free from the highly pathogenic avian influenza after several months of monitoring and other disease control operations.

LAUREL (DA FB)

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. issued Memorandum Circular No. 46 declaring Cagayan as
bird flu-free because it has been more than 90 days since the end of the cleaning and disinfection operations and surveillance activities yielded negative AI test results.

“Our goal is to ensure the country has enough supply of food that is not only affordable but safe for public consumption,” said Laurel. “It is also our duty to protect the local poultry industry, which creates millions of jobs and generates billions in investments."

The DA placed the entire province under surveillance and close monitoring after the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus was detected in game fowl raised in the town of Solana in January 2023.

Before last year’s avian influenza cases, Cagayan has been free of bird flu due to disease control measures, including biosecurity, cleaning and disinfection, and quarantine activities.

Surveillance activities include blood collection and testing among wild and domestic birds.

Cagayan is part of a bird migration path. Migratory bird species may carry the bird flu virus.

Cagayan Valley, composed of the provinces of Batanes, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino, accounted for nearly 10 percent of national poultry production in the second quarter of 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.