The Philippines has not yet reported a case of a human being infected with avian influenza, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday.
This after the disease was detected in several countries.
Dr. Alethea De Guzman, director of DOH’s epidemiology bureau, said the country is currently at Stage 2 of the 4-tier preparedness and response plan, which means the bird flu is currently detected in domestic fowls.
“We don’t have any confirmed human avian influenza case and we want to be able to retain that status,” she said in a virtual town hall forum.
Avian influenza is a viral disease that affects wild and domestic birds. Its most severe strains are called highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), also known as high path, and includes H5N1 virus.
This strain is known to be lethal to poultry and is potentially fatal in humans, the DOH said. Human cases have occurred in people who had close contact with sick birds and contaminated materials, the agency added.
The World Health Organization said that there were 868 human cases with avian influenza A(H5N1) reported in 21 countries, latest data showed. Of the figure, some 455 patients died, bringing the case fatality rate to 53 percent.
The DOH meanwhile said it hopes that COVID-19 would no longer be a public health emergency in 2023.
The DOH made the statement after the World Health Organization said it saw the end of the emergency phase of the pandemic this year.
“We’re hopeful that totoo at mangyari ‘yung sinasabi ni WHO but it doesn’t fully depend on us, it depends on how this virus will change,” De Guzman, quoted by ABS-CBN News, said.
The health official, however, believed the pandemic remains a waiting game.
“We don’t want to be blindsided by the emergence of new variants. I think for me that’s the only unknown that remains here,” De Guzman said. “Kasi patuloy siyang nagbabago eh. Every month may bago na namang variant.”
Globally, omicron and its subvariants have become the most prevalent among samples submitted in GISAID in 2022. Despite the lingering threat of COVID-19, De Guzman said the world is not anymore “helpless” against the virus. She said countries now have the tools to manage severe cases of COVID-19.
‘LOW RISK’
In the forum, De Guzman said the country’s health system capacity remains at “low risk” despite an uptick in COVID and non-COVID hospital admissions.
The health official also presented 3 projections should more contagious and immune-evasive coronavirus variants emerge in the Philippines.
First, hospital and ICU occupancy are expected to plateau at around 2,000 and 250 admissions, respectively, if there’s no new variant of concern last December.
But cases may peak in late March with 3,556 total admissions and 426 ICU admissions in the event of a more transmissible variant.
Lastly, projected admissions with the occurrence of an immune-escaping variant is expected to peak in late April 2023, with 4,742 total admissions and 612 ICU admissions.