Provincial Veterinary Officer Renante Decena said yesterday that Negros Occidental continues to be bird-flu-free.

Decena said they are getting serum samples from poultry animals from the town of San Enrique and the cities of Himamaylan, Escalante and Sagay that are frequented by migratory birds.

They are sending the samples to the Philippine Animal Health Center to check if they are infected with bird-flu or not, he also said.

A 73-year-old woman in China died late last year after being infected with the new bird flu strain called the H10N8  that was not previously found in human beings.

The new bird flu strain is the second to emerge in humans in China last year following the discovery of the H7N9 bird flu virus in March infecting at least 140 people and killing 45 although the Chinese government was able to control its further spread.

Meanwhile, the prices of eggs in the cities of Sagay and Cadiz that were badly affected by super typhoon Yolanda is still between P8 to P10 while dressed chicken prices is still at P140 per kilo.

Decena said he believes the prices of eggs and dressed chicken will reduce early this year once the rehabilitation of the damaged poultry farms in the province is completed.*APN

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