The National Dairy Authority (NDA) clarified on Monday that the agency has no involvement in importing goats, which were later culled following the detection of Q fever.

“Due to numerous rumors and innuendos circulating online and among livestock stakeholders regarding its alleged role, the National Dairy Authority (NDA) hereby clarifies that it had no involvement at all in the importation, quarantine, and management of goats that were recently condemned due to the alleged detection of Q fever at a government breeding station in Marinduque,” their statement read.

The dairy agency said the Department of Agriculture (DA) has already created an investigation team tasked with assessing the situation.

“We assure everyone that currently NDA has not received any report from its assisted farms nationwide regarding any of its dairy animals exhibiting symptoms indicative of the Q fever disease,” it added.

The NDA has encouraged dairy farmers to adopt maximum safety and health precautions. Preventive measures against the potential spread of Q fever are also being implemented, such as depopulation of the farms where the animals had reportedly been housed previously.

On 21 June, the Bureau of Animal Industry confirmed the first case of Q fever in the Philippines, a zoonotic disease that is transmissible to humans.

The DA attached bureau said it detected Q fever in some animals at a government breeding station in Marinduque. After conducting polymerase chain reaction tests on blood samples of suspected infected animals, it confirmed the disease and depopulated over five dozen of the goats imported from the United States.

Likewise, two dozen imported goats left in the quarantine facility in Pampanga were also condemned to eliminate any possible source of Q fever infection.

The DA recently banned the importation of live goats from the US.

Q Fever is a widespread zoonotic disease caused by the bacteria Coxiella burnetii and poses a public health concern as it can be transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals or their excreta and body fluids. 

There are no confirmed cases of humans infected by Q fever in the country, said the DA, citing the Department of Health.