BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Amid the detection of Asian Swine Fever (ASF) in Iloilo, Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Placeda Lemana reported yesterday that Negros Occidental remains ASF free.
During a situational briefing on Sunday in Bacolod City, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas “to test all pig breeding sites in the region to control the spread of the ASF.”
Marcos said all measures to prevent its spread are already in place, including banning pork products from infested areas.
The president said that testing all breeding farms for ASF is one of the most effective ways of controlling the spread of infection.
Negros Occidental and highly urbanized Bacolod City have banned the entry of live pigs and pork related products from Panay and Guimaras.
Lemana said that PVO is mandated to collect 446 blood samples from both commercial and backyard hogs as part of its surveillance efforts against ASF.
As early as September, Lemana said that DA has ordered all provincial veterinarians in the country to collect blood samples.
Lemana said that while there is “a possibility that ASF can be transmitted from an infected pig by a mosquito,” there will be no adverse effect on humans.
This was after Marcos Jr. noted that one of the challenges in fighting the infection is that ASF has been reported to spread through mosquitos.*
