Philippine health officials Wednesday denied a rumor spread through the cellphone texts that the bird flu virus has attacked the country.
Veterinarian from the province of Negros Occidential, Renante Decente, told the ABS-CBN news channel that the recently reported death of a migratory bird there was caused by pneumonia not bird flu.
He dismissed the text message starting being circulated on Saturday which warned people to "avoid eating chicken" as baseless, saying it was just meant to ruin the chicken industry in the province, which can bring an income of up to 1.2 billion pesos (22. US$2 million) a year.
"Negros Occidental is positive for bird flu. Please pass on to your loved ones, this is not a joke, a migratory bird in Escalante was tested positive," the text reads.
The report said that chicken sales declined 40 percent or a loss of around 1.2 million pesos on Tuesday, the third day since the hoax message was first sent out.
Spokesman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, Dr. Antonio Golez, earlier also said that samples taken from Negros poultry by the National Avian Influenza Task Force tested negative for bird flu.
However, the province has been placed on the bird flu watch list because it is a waypoint for migratory birds from the Asian mainland, which are the main suspected carriers of the viral disease, according to the TV report.
Although assuring that the country remains free from the avian flu, the Philippine government has ordered to intensify a public awareness campaign against the virus, upgraded 21 hospitals in preparation for an imminent outbreak of bird flu with isolation rooms, anti-flu drugs and protective gears, and earmarked 160 million pesos (US$2.85 million) for a multi-agency effort to contain the disease.