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January – March 2005 BIO LIFE
25
A MICROBIOLOGIST working at
the Biotech Lab Unit of the
National Meat Inspection Services
(left), while Dr. Cynthia Nalo-
Ochona (below) extracts RNA from
a tissue culture of an animal
disease virus. At right, Dr. Ochona
slices a bovine brain for BSE or
“mad cow” disease testing.
been detected in the country. One of the diseases
given priority attention in the project is
the Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT) which
affects poultry. It is an acute viral disease of
mature chickens, pheasants and peafowl, affecting
the respiratory system.
The disease has been reported and
documented to be present in the country.
Outbreaks of ILT have recently been occurring
in the provinces of Batangas,
Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija and
Bacolod with reports of 30-40 percent mortalities
in pullets.
“Namamatay ang mga manok; and at
the time that they are ready to lay eggs, that’s
when they die,” laments Dr. Morales, who
describes ILT as a reemerging disease in
the Philippines. The chickens die even before
they lay eggs. The disease has been
discovered to be concentrated in Batangas,
Bataan, Nueva Ecija and Pampanga. It is
concentrated in Batangas and Pampanga,
which is the egg basket of the Philippines.
“We have to stop the disease even before
it spreads in other parts of the country,
so [there must be] support [for] the modern
biotechnology methods of detecting the disease”
said Morales.
The traditional method of detecting ILT
is very slow, tedious and expensive. The
faster, reliable, specific and more accurate
method of detecting the viral agent is through
the use of DNA-based techniques, whereby
not only the ILT virus is detected but also
the type and strain present. These are important
considerations for an effective and
appropriate vaccination, control, and disease
prevention.
The group also conducts tests to develop
more accurate and specific tools for the control,
prevention and eradication of Hog Cholera,
a highly contagious disease affecting
pigs and wild boar. This has caused major
economic loss in the global pig industry.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ochona has just finished
conducting safety and feeding trials on the
use of BT corn on pig. The initial result is
that the pigs which eat BT corn are fatter.
More results will soon come out.
Morales, who has been in the Bureau
for 30 years, believes that a more supportive
government and civil society is crucial to
their success. “Twenty years ago, the Philippines
used to be at the top in terms of advancing
biotechnology among Asian countries;
now we are lagging behind. Let us not
waste the opportunities,” she stresses.