The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) on Thursday said meat products, such as bacon, confiscated from tourists at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport tested negative for the African swine fever (ASF) virus.
“As of now, negative result for samples from confiscated bacon from China,” BAI OIC-Director Ronnie D. Domingo told the BusinessMirror.
The BAI and other concerned agencies have confiscated meat products brought into the country by tourists from China and other countries to protect the Philippine pork industry from the highly contagious viral disease.
The dreaded ASF virus, which could wipe out the country’s P200-billion hog industry, could thrive even in processed meat products, such as siomai and hot dogs.
The BAI started collecting and testing samples from confiscated meat products to determine the presence of the ASF virus last week.
Domingo also said the recently reported ASF incident in Mongolia poses no risk to the Philippines. “The report is of negligible risk to the Philippines because we don’t import meat from Mongolia.”
Mongolia reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) on January 15 that it has confirmed its first-ever ASF case.
Around 85 hogs in a backyard farm in Gahain bair, Rashaant bag, Bulgan soum, Bulgan, died from ASF, according to Mongolia’s report. The Mongolian government has also killed and disposed 214 more hogs to contain the disease.
Last month the Department of Agriculture (DA) has implemented “more stringent” border security measures —including mandatory inspection of fishing boats from the West Philippine Sea where Philippine seafood is routinely bartered with meat from abroad—to avert the entry of ASF in the country.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol earlier instructed BAI officials to intensify its actions against the dreaded ASF virus, with the additional measures outlined in a memorandum order he issued on December 28.
Under the order, the BAI will install human foot baths across all entry points of the country, including those arriving via cruise ships, to ensure that the virus would not spread through humans, according to Piñol.
The BAI in coordination with other concerned government agencies will also mandatorily inspect all vessels “in Philippine ports with meat supplies.”
The inspection also covers Philippine fishing boats returning from the West Philippine Sea, due to the reported barter of seafood products with meat from abroad, according to Piñol.
Piñol added that the government will also conduct a “rigid” inspection of checked-in and hand-carried luggage of all incoming passengers from ASF-affected countries at all airports and seaports.
The BAI will also confiscate and destroy within 24 hours all intercepted pork products coming from ASF-affected countries, according to Piñol.
According to the OIE, the ASF is a severe viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs. The transboundary animal disease can be spread by live or dead pigs, domestic or wild, and pork products.
Transmission can also occur via contaminated feed and fomites (nonliving objects) such as shoes, clothes, vehicles, knives and equipment due to the high environmental resistance of ASF virus. The OIE noted that there is no approved vaccine against ASF.
The OIE said ASF outbreaks have been reported in Africa and parts of Europe, South America and the Caribbean.