Chicken layers to be quarantined upon arrival in Iloilo

I LOILO – The provincial g overnment has i mposed quarantine requirements for select poultry from areas affected by the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) if allowed entry from May 4 until June 2.

Gov. Arthur Defensor J r. said the transport, particularly of ready- t o- l ay pullets, has already been allowed by the Department of Agriculture ( DA) but the provincial government has imposed regulatory guidelines.

“What we did is we allowed it except that we just added protocols. We require a quarantine period. They can only be released, if ever they have to be released, once they completed the quarantine period,” Defensor said.

Allowing the entry of the readyto-lay pullets is also in response to the request of the industry because the province also needs layers, he added.

Executive Order No. 244- A signed by Defensor on May 4, 2022, said ready- to- lay pullets from Luzon, Mindanao and other HPAI- affected areas must have a test result of their Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay ( ELISA) samples collected from the source farms within the last 21 days.

The source farm from an avianfree city or municipality should be accredited by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).

Further, the shipper shall identify one quarantine area for the birds per shipment.

The quarantine area has to post an announcement of the number of pullets to be quarantined and the period that they will be staying in the isolation place.

“All ready to lay pullets shall undergo 14 days quarantine and regularly monitored by the municipal/ city l ivestock technician/ veterinarian, after which the birds maybe released from the quarantine area,” the EO said.

Before t he r e l e a s e , t h e municipal or city agriculture’s office has to issue a certificate of completion.

In his previous EO, the province also allowed the entry of other products day- old breeder chicks and pullet, hatching eggs, dressed chickens, and processed and cooked poultry meat products with necessary permits.