• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
No case of African Swine Fever (ASF) has been detected among the 31 towns and cities of Negros Occidental, as of this time, aside from Bacolod City, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson disclosed yesterday.
“Again, there has been no declaration as far as the province is concerned, that we are ASF infected. I think we have been very consistent from the beginning, that until such time the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Animal Industry will proclaim us as ASF infected, the province will not declare such,” stressed Lacson, in a press briefing at the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City.
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has ordered the culling of pigs within a 500-meter radius of ground zero in Brgy. Taculing, Bacolod City, where two hogs reportedly from Bago City, tested positive for ASF last week.
Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Placeda Lemana yesterday said that the pigs reported to be infected with ASF in Brgy. Taculing, Bacolod City, were “still healthy when it was bought in a semi- commercial piggery in Bago City.”
Lemana said the Bago piggery, which is being managed by a veterinarian, has been issued with Certificate of Free Status by the Bago City Veterinary Office.
She explained that the hog disease has an incubation period of seven to 14 days, before an infected pig shows symptoms, and it will ultimately die.
If the virus came from Bago, it would have died before blood samples were taken last Friday, Lemana said, noting that the pigs have already been in Brgy. Taculing for two weeks since being bought from Bago.
She believes that there could be “localized infection”, as the PVO head stressed that no positive cases were noted by the DA regional office when it completed surveillance and swabbing of hogs in Bago City.
Lacson said that the protocols followed by the province are now “geared towards addressing whatever is the virus present.”
“It doesn’t matter what kind of virus. We have taken steps to protect per local government unit (LGU) already,” he added.
Damage to Negros Occidental hog industry due to swine mortalities, which is presently attributed to high cholera, pneumonia as well as other diseases, has reached almost P80 million as of May 27, according to PVO reports released yesterday.
PVO reported 6,774 swine deaths in 14 LGUs, which is equivalent to 6.24 percent of the hog population in Negros Occidental, affecting 1,360 hog raisers.
Negros Occidental has a zoning map for ASF, where areas are color-coded as pink for buffer zones and green for free zones.
Amid reports of ASF cases in Bacolod City, Mayor Marvin Malacon also ordered the strengthening of policies in handling the virus in EB Magalona.
Malacon is set to issue an executive order for stricter border control on the entry of live pigs, pork, and pork-processed products from neighboring local government units in Negros Occidental, as well as from the provinces of Negros Oriental, Cebu, and Iloilo, except for those from commercial farms observing provincial or national bio-security compliance requirements.
He also ordered the putting up of more strategic checkpoints in the highway, seaports, and other points of entry to prevent entry and transport of infected or contaminated swine.
Malacon is also creating a task force on the disposal of dead swine and will form a decontamination team to handle those cases.*
