Stories tagged
‘bird flu’

Duck breeders and cock raisers resist anti-bird flu measures

by Prime Sarmiento

THE GOVERNMENT’S Avian Influenza Protection Program (AIPP) says that should the lethal H5N1 bird-flu strain enter the country and infect a poultry farm, military and agriculture officials will cull all feathered animals within a three-kilometer radius to halt the spread of the virus. These animals will include ducks, broilers, quail and, yes, even pampered fighting cocks.

Read more… | Posted Tuesday, April 4th, 2006

Wild-bird smugglers pose avian-flu threat

by Prime Sarmiento

THE USUALLY frenzied Recto district in downtown Manila slows down on Sundays, as schools and most shops take a day off. At the Arranque market, however, Sunday is as busy as any other day of the week. Home to numerous pet shops, Arranque is astir seven days a week as buyers and sellers haggle amid cages containing yelping puppies, hamsters running inside their plastic play wheels, and parrots cloaked in a rainbow of feathers that seem as soft as felt.

Read more… | Posted Monday, April 3rd, 2006