Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol promised to provide the country’s major airports with about 45 meat-sniffing K9s to prevent the entry of African swine fever (ASF) now devastating a large part of China, Southeast Asia and parts of Europe.
The figure is higher than the 15 meat-sniffing dogs earlier ordered by the Department of Agriculture for deployment in the country’s major airports. The dogs were trained to smell fresh, frozen, cooked or uncooked animal meat and processed meat from affected countries, Piñol said.
The DA chief made the promise during a surprise visit to quarantine personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 2 on Tuesday afternoon, tagging along some meat-sniffing dogs.
Piñol personally observed how personnel from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and quarantine officers handled the monitoring of luggage from incoming passengers.
ASF has been detected in China, Tibet (Xizang) Autonomous Region and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Piñol said the entry of different plants and soil from these countries without phytosanitary permits is not acceptable. He alerted fisheries personnel to keep an eye on the smuggling of endangered species.
He urged quarantine officials and personnel to be more vigilant and closely coordinate with the Bureau of Customs “to determine which luggage contain meat and meat products through x-ray machines.”
“The ASF threat is real. We have to protect our farmers from virus like this,” Piñol said.
The government has imposed an import ban on pork and pork-based products from countries with confirmed ASF outbreaks. These include Belgium, China, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Cambodia.
Confiscated pork and pork products from these countries will be destroyed within 24 hours after interception.
The ASF virus is not harmful to humans but it can cause deadly hemorrhagic fever in domesticated pigs and wild boar. The disease can also be transmitted through non-living objects, such as shoes and knives. The DA chief was welcomed at the airport by BAI-Naia Head Reynaldo Quilang and other quarantine officials.