The Department of Agriculture is warning the public against avian influenza or bird flu vaccines being sold online.聽 (Photo courtesy of DA)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday warned the public against avian influenza (AI) or bird flu vaccines being sold online.
鈥淎gain, hindi natin nire-recommend iyan at iyan ay bawal doon, kukuha lang ng bakuna doon sa mga reputable na institutions o source ng vaccines (we鈥檙e not recommending that and that鈥檚 prohibited, only get vaccines from reputable institutions or source of vaccines),鈥� Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in an interview.
The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) earlier issued a similar warning against avian influenza vaccines now accessible on various online shopping platforms.
In an online platform, 100ml and 200ml of AI H5N1 vaccine doses were sold at P423 to P790.
De Mesa said there may be risks when using such unregulated products considering that bird flu is highly pathogenic.
鈥淜ahit anong gamot na hindi dumaan sa proseso, inirekomenda ng FDA [Food and Drug Administration] o ng BAI o hindi dumaan sa kung ano man na regulation, bawal iyan (Any drug which did not undergo the process, nor recommended by the FDA or BAI or did not undergo any regulation, it鈥檚 prohibited),鈥� he said, citing the probability of AI transmission to humans.
鈥淜ung hindi tama iyong bakuna (If the vaccine is not right), it could be a poison both to the human and the animals,鈥� de Mesa said.
The DA said it is now coordinating with the FDA to act on the matter.