MANILA, Philippines – The Australian Animal Health Laboratory confirmed the presence of bird flu in San Luis, Pampanga, according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol.

Piñol announced the results of the confirmatory test during a press conference on Tuesday, August 22.

“To debunk suggestions that we were hasty and imprudent in making the announcement, I would like to report to you that this is already the result from Australia,” Piñol said.

He added: “The result of the laboratory test [from the] Australian Animal Health Laboratory confirms positive presence of bird flu in San Luis using as samples those specimens submitted by the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Animal Industry.”

On August 11, when Piñol first confirmed the avian influenza or bird flu outbreak in Pampanga, he said what hit the town and killed thousands of birds is avian influenza type A subtype H5.

Arlene Vytiaco of the Bureau of Animal Industry said the N component is still for testing.

“It so happened na kinulang sila ng sample, so ipo-propagate pa ‘yun to conduct further testing for the N component (It so happened that they lacked samples, so they will still have to propagate that to conduct further testing for the N component),” Vytiaco explained, adding that further testing will take 1 to 3 days.

The agriculture secretary emphasized that they hear no other reports of possible bird flu outbreaks outside San Luis, Pampanga, and the towns of Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija.

To assure the public that there’s nothing to fear amid the outbreak, Piñol said he will ask President Rodrigo Duterte to eat balut with him in Pampanga.

“On the suggestion of the stakeholders, and I agree with this, we will ask the President to join us whenever he’s available next week in an itik, manok, and balut (duck, chicken, and fertilized duck embryo) festival in San Fernando, Pampanga,” he shared.

He added: “We will ask the President to eat balut with us para ma-assure ‘yung mga public na kung ‘yung presidente hindi takot kumain ng balut, eh lalo pa kayo (to assure the public that if the President is not afraid to eat balut, then all the more should the public not be afraid).”

Piñol had earlier asked the President for P100 million for the poultry industries of Pampanga and Nueva Ecija. On Tuesday, he said P51 million is now ready for the compensation of farm owners in San Luis.

Piñol also announced the lifting of the ban on the shipment of poultry and poultry products from Luzon to other parts of the Philippines. – Rappler.com