THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday said it is currently monitoring other areas aside from those with confirmed cases of the dreaded African swine fever (ASF).
Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said areas with confirmed ASF cases are the following barangays in Rodriguez, San Isidro, San Jose, San Rafael, Macabud and Mascap, Rizal.
Dar said ASF cases were also found in Cupang, Antipolo, and Guiguinto, Bulacan.
The agriculture chief said the DA also got reports of hogs getting sick in other areas, which he refused to identify.
“[Government] has to be very honest always. There are incident reports in [other] areas, but again, as what we have done for Rizal and Guiguinto, please let [government] do its work first,” Dar told reporters in a press briefing in Quezon City.
He said the ASF may have spread from Rodriguez, Rizal, to other areas through the infected swill taken from the dumpsite which was then fed to backyard-raised hogs.
The DA also said it is looking into the transport of some hogs from areas under quarantine to other parts of the country.
Dar said the ASF virus may have been introduced in local farms via waste from hotels and restaurants, smuggled meat, and by overseas Filipino workers who bought pork products from ASF-affected countries.
Protocols
The agriculture chief stressed, however, that the outbreak of ASF has not reached epidemic proportions.
“[The government] is responding to an increased number of deaths of pigs. The ‘1-7-10’ protocol is now in place, even in the new areas that I mentioned,” Dar said.
Under the “1-7-10” principle, authorities will put up a control zone, quarantine zone and surveillance zone within the 1-kilometer, 7-km and 10-km radius of the suspected infected farm.
The government culled a total of 7,416 hogs where ASF cases were confirmed.
“Our latest feedback from the ground, particularly from the affected areas, is that there are no more new [outbreaks]. These areas tested negative for the swine disease,” Dar said.
He attributed this to the “orchestrated management” of the disease by concerned government agencies and the private sector.
Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) officer in charge (OIC) Director Ronnie Domingo said it will still take at least another month before hog raising could resume in the depopulated areas. Dar said ASF usually lives for 19 days.
“Since it is has been raining recently, the virus may survive longer due to the cool environment,” Domingo said.
Government aid
Dar said the DA’s indemnity to hog raisers affected by depopulation amounted to P3,000 per head.
While this is below the market value of live hogs, he said the local government could still give additional cash assistance to affected farmers.
Dar said the DA will also provide affected hog raisers with piglets once the areas have been declared negative for ASF and the sentinel animal survives.
Domingo said a sentinel animal will tell the government if the virus is still present in an area. “If the sentinel animal becomes sick after one month, that means the disease is still there.”
Dar said the DA initially spent P25 million to control the spread of ASF in Bulacan, Antipolo and Rizal. He said the DA was given an additional P82 million to implement quarantine measures and other interventions.
Impact on trade
Following the confirmation of the presence of ASF in the Philippines, the DA said other countries may ban the importation of local pork.
“If a country says it will no longer accept [pork products] from the Philippines, then we cannot do anything about it,” Domingo said.
The BAI chief said, however, that these countries may still be convinced to accept local pork products if it deems government efforts to contain ASF sufficient.
“This is the reason [government] documented laboratory testing [from the United Kingdom] and [ASF] surveillance in the regions,” Domingo added.
The Philippines is not a net meat-exporting country, according to the BAI chief.