The recently reported outbreak of avian influenza in Pampanga may affect the performance of the country's agricultural sector in the third quarter of 2017, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Wednesday. "This will affect our performance in the third quarter of this year," Piñol said in a press conference in Quezon City. The Agriculture chief made the pronouncement hours after the Health department said that the two poultry workers from San Luis town in Pampanga who had shown Bird flu symptoms have tested negative for the avian virus. Piñol revealed last week that there was a Bird flu outbreak in a poultry farm in Barangay San Agustin, San Luis, Pampanga. Piñol said that the outbreak of avian influenza Type A subtype H5 happened in a quail farm before spreading to other poultry farms. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) said that 16,700 fowls have been culled, including those taken from poultry farms in Barangay San Carlos. ? MDM, GMA News