The Department of Agriculture cleared on Monday Butuan City of any case of bird flu, saying the cause of the death of some 20 ducks in a farm was "poor farm management and overcrowding."

These were the findings after authorities inspected the farm, said Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol on his Facebook post.

Quoting Arlene Vytiaco, Bureau of Animal and Industry focal person for Avian Influenza, Pinol said the Regional Animal Disease Detection Laboratory inspected a farm following reports of a possible bird flu outbreak because of death of several ducks.

"The RADDL officer said the duck farm was overcrowded and there was very poor farm management, especially in maintaining cleanliness, which was identified as the immediate cause of the deaths," he said.

The regional office said ducks did not show manifestation of fowls afflicted with AI.

A female owner of the farm in Butuan has sought the help of the DA regional office to determine the cause of the death of her ducks.

The agriculture department thanked the owner of the farm for immediately reporting the unusual number of duck deaths.

The DA has been on alert amid the bird flu outbreak in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija.

Authorities have been culling hundreds of thousands of fowls in those farms in Luzon infected by bird flu to ensure that the disease would not spread. Celerina Monte/DMS