The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday that 34 poultry workers who showed signs of flu-like symptoms tested negative for bird flu.
As of Aug. 24, the health department said "there has been no confirmed human case due to influenza A (H5N6)."
Since the Department of Agriculture (DA) declared the bird flu outbreaks in the country early this month, the health department said it identified 34 suspect cases, 30 from Pampanga and four from Nueva Ecija provinces.
The DOH said the 34 people were immediately isolated as part of precautionary measures to avert any possible human-to-human transmission of infection.
An assessment of suspect cases were done and specimen were collected for laboratory diagnosis. "Thus, they were also started on the antiviral Oseltamivir while awaiting the laboratory results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine," the DOH said in a statement.
Nevertheless, the DOH said the monitoring and testing will continue.
In response to the health threat, Health Secretary Jean Ubial said her department is closely working with DA to ensure that poultry and poultry by products are safe for consumption.
She said the DOH epidemiologist surveillance and response team is active and in place. "Trained diseases surveillance officers and health workers have been alerted to investigate and report suspected human cases within 24 to 48 hours," Ubial said.
Ubial again urged the public to be vigilant, follow the government advisories and be properly informed by the disease.
As a precautionary measure for those who had direct contact with infected poultry and had developed any flu symptoms, Ubial also urged the public to report to the DOH or government agencies in their respective areas to seek immediate consultation.
The DA said on Thursday that the strain of bird flu found on poultry farms in the Philippines has been identified as H5N6, the type which could potentially be transmitted to humans. However, it said the possibility of transmission "is very, very low."
The Philippines reported on Aug. 11 its first outbreak of bird flu on poultry farms in Pampanga, a province in the main Luzon island north of Manila. A few days later, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said bird flu has also been found on another poultry farm in nearby Nueva Ecija province just north of Pampanga.
Pinol has ordered the culling of more than 400,000 infected chickens, quails and ducks in the affected provinces.
