AS the bird flu virus again rages in some of the Philippine’s Asian neighbors, alert warnings have been raised in the country, but Dr. Jesus Canto, director of the Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) based in Dagupan City, assured that they are ready to deal with the deadly germ.

He said the staff of R1MC had been trained to effectively discharge their functions in case the bird flu strikes.

While the doctor pointed out that the Philippines remains as one of the only few bird flu-free nations in Asia, he recognized the possibility that the bird flu virus may slip into the country as there are people and companies importing fowls from abroad, and migratory birds often dropping to forage for food in farms and fishponds.

“I see these migratory birds landing in some of our fishponds in Pangasinan, particularly Binmaley, Dagupan, Sual, Bani and Anda. Since they may carry the virus, it would be better not to disturb them and just let the environment kill the virus that they bring,” Canto said.

Canto said that with God’s help, the Philippines is lucky because it is now only among the few countries in Asia that does not have any case of bird flu.

However, with its proximity to China, Vietnam and Indonesia, the Philippines will always be vulnerable to bird flu, which is why all Department of Health personnel had been trained to effectively handle the disease, he added. — LM

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