WRESTLING with a greased pig, a common fare in local village fiesta celebration, describes the Philippines’s war with a virus that has led to the death of hundreds of thousands of pigs and has maimed the livestock sector.
And while government and the private sector believe they have the upper hand in the battle against the African Swine Fever (ASF), the war against this transboundary animal disease (TAD) is far from being won.
Six months into the outbreak, the Philippines has been slowly learning and adjusting mechanisms to better handle and eradicate ASF in its territories.
Government agencies had wanted to contain the spread of ASF within Luzon but, due to certain uncontrollable factors, the virus has recently reached the country’s largest island-group: Mindanao.
ASF did not just simply penetrate the island region—it managed to infect backyard farms in the remote fishing town of Don Marcelino, Davao Occidental, which only had one throughway as exit and entry points.
The confirmation of ASF outbreaks in Don Marcelino indeed baffled government authorities: how can a remote town be struck by ASF?
Nonetheless, this did make government authorities realize that efforts to control and contain the spread of ASF should be doubled, if not tripled, to salvage the country’s over P200-billion hog industry and avoid the fate of the world’s second-largest economy: the People’s Republic of China.
Need to clean
IF the Philippines wants to avoid its ally’s perilous path toward livestock misery, then it might want to consider ensuring trucks transporting pigs are thoroughly clean and disinfected.
This is one of the points raised by renowned veterinarian Edgar Wayne Johnson Jr.: that the Philippines should learn from China’s experience in handling ASF.
Johnson presented during the 3-day International Farmers Summit at a convention center in Pasay City via Skype since he wasn’t able to fly to the Philippines due to travel restrictions on China caused by the coronavirus disease of 2019.
Citing a research article on the outbreak of ASF in China, Johnson said dirty infected trucks have been the number one culprit for the spread of the virus in the Asian country.
And these dirty trucks were also responsible for the transboundary spread of ASF to nearby countries such as Vietnam, according to Johnson, who has spent 15 years as a veterinarian in China.
The ASF virus could spread through fomites—objects or materials which are likely to carry infection, such as clothes, utensils and furniture and, yes, vehicle exteriors.
“Nobody bothers to clean them,” Johnson said.
ASF causes
During the summit, Reildrin Morales outlined that the three main reasons for the spread of ASF in the country are: swill feeding; illegal movement of sick pigs; and, contaminated vehicles.
“Risks are very high because of trading of diseased animals,” Morales, the government’s ASF Crisis Management Team (ASF-CMT) head, explained. “It only takes a finger-sized blood to infect a farm.”
Morales appealed to hog raisers to avoid swill feeding and to traders to stop transporting sick pigs and learn to clean and disinfect their vehicles. He pointed out that swill feeding poses the highest risk of spreading ASF. Swill feeding has also been identified by the government as the cause of the first outbreak in the country.
“Let us not spread the virus through contaminated vehicles or equipment. To recall, during the last phase of the eradication of FMD, the highest cases were in slaughterhouses,” Morales said. “When we did the 100-percent surveillance of all slaughterhouses, we found out they have been turned into stock yards.”
Another concern for the spread of ASF is the underreporting of suspected cases by hog raisers. Veterinarian Rosette Angelie Arca, who is part of the government’s ASF-CMT, noted that most of the cause of the spread of ASF is human-induced.
“In bird flu, the main identified spreader of the virus is literally bird-brain, but in ASF, it’s an intelligent being: humans,” Arca added.
The physician also emphasized that there is a need for a comprehensive education of all players of the industry ranging from farmers, viajeros or business travelers, traders and vendors. Arca also wants to include in this education program the policy-makers, media and consumers.
She said the education should focus on the nature of ASF and how it could easily spread from one infected farm to another.
Cleaning centers
Recognizing that trucks do pose as one of the biggest threats in spreading one of the world’s deadliest animal diseases, the Government of Catalonia in Spain encouraged the establishment of cleaning centers.
Cleaning centers were constructed by the private sector in key routes of the hog trade to ensure that trucks transporting live pigs are cleaned and disinfected from any viruses.
Catalonia’s Deputy Director of Livestock Joaquim Xifra presented, also during the summit, the key measures they are doing to prevent the intrusion of ASF in their country that the Philippines could replicate.
One of these is the mandatory registration of farms and reporting of movement of live hogs through an online traceability system. This allows the government to monitor movement of live hogs and regularly check on the health of pigs being traded by farmers.
The Catalonia government also requires that every hog farm or hog group in the region must have an attending veterinarian, as part of their mandated biosecurity measures. The government subsidizes the farm by shouldering the salary of their veterinarian.
Furthermore, Xifra shared that they conduct a proactive surveillance of all hog farms every 3 to 4 months, depending on the type of pigs they are raising. This, Xifra explains ensures that no virus has penetrated their farms or borders.
Xifra said they also strictly implement their minimum biosecurity measure requirement for all hog farms. Failure to comply with required minimum requirements would lead to a suspension of the operations of a farm, he added.
Too costly
What history could easily tell us about the eradication of ASF is that it would be costly once it hits a country. In her presentation, Roselle Falconite-Cudal shared that countries that have been first hit by ASF shouldered millions of dollars just to control and eventually eradicate the fatal virus.
Canada, Mexico and the United States shouldered a combined expenditure of $9.5 million to address ASF in Haiti that resulted in the total eradication of its hog population, according to Falconite-Cudal. Brazil spent $1.8 million for its targeted eradication on ASF while Belgium spent 177 million Belgian francs, according to her presentation.
Morales, who was among the veterinarians who led the government’s mission to eradicate foot and mouth disease in the 90s, said efforts being exerted to keep unaffected areas free from ASF should be doubled since it would it is cheaper to keep an area free from a virus.
“The efforts in controlling the disease efforts should be doubled in [keeping] areas free from ASF. It is cheaper to prevent the disease coming in than controlling a disease,” he said.
Morales said the government spent at least P2 billion in eradicating FMD three decades ago but it was way cheaper keeping Visayas and Mindanao free from the disease.
“We just used disinfectants and quarantine officers in keeping Visayas and Mindanao free from FMD. But the efforts were more intended,” he said.
Morales said the P1 billion given by President Duterte to indemnify affected hog raisers has been already depleted as total cull count breached 200,000 pigs.
“[Agriculture Secretary William D.] Dar said we have to rethink the strategy because it is already becoming costly,” Morales said. “The salary of the people is not yet included in that P1 billion. You can only imagine the nightmare.”
Juggling prices
Arca noted that the transport ban on live hogs and pork products imposed by various provinces and local government units (LGUs) could be detrimental to the country’s overall supply situation.
Arca explained that areas with high density of hogs that cannot transport their pigs could suffer a glut while those areas that have maintained a lockdown could suffer a shortage.
“What happens is that prices of live hogs will go down in high-density areas while prices in areas with lockdowns would be maintained or become higher,” she said. “Because of the movement restrictions, there will be a drop in demand for pork, hence, expect an oversupply while a short supply could occur in areas that imposed the bans resulting in a price disparity due to unwanted movement.”
Worse, Arca said, the lockdowns could even encourage the smuggling of live hogs from infected zones once the areas on lockdowns suffer a shortage, which effectively spreads the virus further.
“Remember that pre-ASF, the pig industry was not designed to be regionally self-sufficient. We all know there are movements from North Luzon to Manila, Batangas to Laguna, North Mindanao to Visayas. So, there will come a time that areas with lockdowns would lose supply and will be forced to bring hogs, even infected ones,” she added.
Always leaking
MORALES likened the transport ban to trying to stop water to flow from a faucet with one’s palms.
In the case of a disease outbreak, the leak could be the illegal movement of hogs as unscrupulous traders chase higher prices from free zones.
“There will be local people manning checkpoints and there will be a lot of required permits. Now, the question is, where are the people of the government? There will be a point in time that you will let your guard down,” Arca said. “And if the prices are good in one area, raisers will try to sell their pigs by hiding them in trucks to circumvent the bans.”
Industry sources noted that unscrupulous traders could easily transport pork and pork products using civilian cars since they will not be suspected by checkpoints as a vehicle for transporting goods. One trader noted that only trucks of meat suppliers are inspected at check points.
People issue
In December, Dar said the country’s ASF outbreaks are tapering down—which was before Davao Occidental got hit by the disease.
During the summit, Dar disclosed that the fight against ASF has evolved from a battle against a dreaded virus into a “people issue.”
He pointed out that the virus has spread to unaffected areas due to unscrupulous traders and uncooperative citizens.
“Hog raisers whose pigs are infected are hiding their pigs and that is being taken advantage of by hog traders themselves buying at half the price and not following the protocol of slaughtering these infected animals in slaughterhouses,” he said.
“The virus is not the problem anymore. The very problem now is the traders who sell pork and pork meat,” he added.
Such was the case of the outbreak in Don Marcelino. Initial investigation by the DA indicated that the cause of the ASF outbreaks in the backyard farms were infected pork products brought home by returning residents from Luzon.
“[W]e’re calling again on the local chief executives. They know who are their traders. They know where they’re buying these pigs so it is enhancing our monitoring and surveillance and checking on the trading activities of these hog traders that will substantially and significantly reduce the spread of such virus,” Dar said.
Enabling players
Industry players have been lobbying to increase the government’s indemnification to every hog culled to contain the spread of ASF from P5,000 to P10,000, which is almost at par of market value.
Some industry stakeholders said that affected hog raisers should be “justly” compensated by an amount that may approximate their costs of production.
By doing so, hog raisers would be encouraged to surrender their pigs as they will be able somehow to recoup their losses, according to stakeholders.
Arca is lukewarm to raising indemnification to affected hog raisers at par of market value. She explained that matching the prevailing market prices could lead to a backlash as some farmers may opt to infect their hogs to avail themselves of the indemnification.
“[The tendency is], I will infect my farm so that the government will pay me. I hope the indemnification remains lower than the market price. [If it is on a par with the market price farmers] will not do anything to prevent their farms from being infected,” Arca said during the summit.
The DA has been reviewing its indemnification program for ASF-affected hog farmers but funding limitations remain as the biggest hurdle in raising its compensation.
LGUs of areas with confirmed ASF outbreaks have intervened by providing additional indemnification to ensure that hog raisers cooperate with authorities’ culling operations by surrendering their pigs within the 1-kilometer quarantine zones.
Seeking piggies
Another thing that LGUs should pay attention to is their total live hog inventory.
Arca and Morales pointed out that data is crucial in times of outbreaks and urged areas that remain free from ASF to already conduct an inventory of their total live hog population.
Morales recalled the government’s culling operations in Rodriguez, Rizal, wherein they were told by local officials that they only have around 600 pigs but these turned out to be 16,000 pigs.
“So everyone was surprised. What was thought as an overnight operation became two weeks,” he said.
“How can we prepare properly if we do not know the correct hog population? The problem that arises there is: How are we going to prepare the indemnification fund and needed resources if they do not know the correct population?” he added.
Adopt approaches
MORALES said the lack of data on hog population may also lead to underreporting of cases since realities on the ground are not on the radar of government officials.
He is proposing that LGUs adopt the so-called x-ray approach of surveillance that Thailand is employing in handling its own bird flu outbreaks.
Under an x-ray approach, LGUs will deploy people—not necessarily technical persons—on the ground to survey all barangays for their total hog population so that they have a real appreciation of their areas. Furthermore, these people will also gather information on the ground such as, whether unusual mortality has been observed among hog population which could serve as vital data for the government authorities.
“They just have to be tsismoso [tuned to gossips and rumors]. It’s like rumor tracking. The FAO and the OIE everyday discuss all the information they gathered from the previous day, including the ridiculous ones, to monitor the global situation,” he said.
“For example, one will go to the barangay captain and ask how many pigs are in the area and how many got sick in the past months.”
‘Babes’ to ‘Liempo’
Prior to the confirmation of ASF outbreaks in Rizal province in August 2019, the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) had been employing the “Babes” approach to prevent the intrusion of the virus.
The “Babes” acronym stands for: Ban pork imports; Avoid swill feeding; Block entry; Educate our people; and, Submit lab samples.
But after the virus managed to spread to over 12 provinces in at least three regions and resulted in the culling of over 200,000 hogs, the BAI adopted a new approach and a new acronym: “Liempo.”
Liempo stands for: Locate, hold and cull; Improve surveillance and reporting; Educate stakeholders; Mobilize supporters; Protect free zones and Optimize bio-security. The “Liempo” program was presented by Philippine authorities at the 3rd Meeting on Standing Group of Experts on ASF of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE, or the Office International des Epizooties).
To date, the total number of hogs susceptible to ASF, as reported by the Philippines to the OIE, has reached 204,889 heads. Authorities have culled 208,924 pigs to contain and control the spread of the virus.
So far, the Philippines has confirmed ASF outbreaks in Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Quezon, Isabela, Benguet, Kalinga, Davao Occidental, Davao City, Aurora, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, and Metro Manila, among others.
Ominous threat
THE government estimates that the hog industry is losing at least P1 billion every month since the confirmation of ASF in the country in August of last year.
But industry projections indicate a gloomier situation for the hog industry if the ASF is left uncontrolled by the government.
During the summit, Philippine Veterinary Drug Association President Eugene Mende said the spread of the fatal hog disease, if left unchecked, could wipe out more than half of the country’s pig herd or almost 8 million heads. This projection was made by the PVDA in partnership with the local hog industry stakeholders.
This, Mende said, will cause farm-gate prices to go up by 20 percent to more than 30 percent. The farm-gate prices of hogs may rise to P115 to P120 per kilogram.
“That is what will happen if we will do nothing to control ASF and just let it spread across the country,” he said.
Regional investment
Morales emphasized that LGUs should create their respective ASF task forces and regional plans to prevent the entry of the disease and how they will act should the virus penetrate their borders.
The plan must identify critical nodes in their respective jurisdictions where the ASF can penetrate, and interventions suitable in their areas, considering that each region has different topography and geography.
Furthermore, the LGUs should also invest in improving their backyard raisers’ biosecurity instead of just imposing bans and lockdowns on ASF-infected areas, he added.
Under the government’s zoning plan, the LGU where the ground zero farm or infected farm is located shall shoulder all the costs incurred in culling operations, salary of workers and other logistical requirements.
A local issue
The contingency measure is in line with the devolution of national powers to LGUs.
“We will live and we will die with ASF [relative to] how LGUs will react. It is not that we are transferring the burden to the LGU; but that is the reality,” he said.
“Sad to say, with the Local Government Code, a lot of technical functions have been devolved to LGUs. We’re not saying we will be leaving the LGU but the LGUs have to do their job,” he added.
For instance, Morales said the government’s protocol is not a “one-size-fits-all” mechanism, considering the peculiarities of each region in the country.
“Our point is, we cannot dictate what should be done. They have their own realities on the ground. For example in Cordillera, they need black pigs for Cañao: How will you address that?” he said. Cañao or Kanyaw is a festival or a ceremony of the indigenous people in the Northern Philippines.
“What we are saying is that they are the ones that know and understand their peculiar situation,” Morales said. “So it is just proper that they identify possible interventions that are suitable to them.”
Compartmentalization
The DA is banking on its nationwide progressive ASF Zoning Plan to eradicate the fatal hog disease.
The DA issued Administrative Circular 12 dated December 10, 2019, that formally ordered the establishment of zones across the country depending on the level of risks of regions in relation to ASF.
The DA noted that its progressive zoning approach “was instrumental in the successful eradication of foot-and-mouth disease in the Philippines through intensified surveillance and animal movement management.”
“The concept of zoning and compartmentalization of the different administration regions in the country is based on their common disease status, to protect unaffected areas while controlling disease in infected regions, and the progressive elevation of infected status to protected, and eventually to free zones, while building up measures to prevent re-infection,” the order read.
“The national zoning and movement plan for African swine fever will guide movement protocols intended to control the spread of the virus,” Dar added.
The zones are defined and classified based on geographical limits established by the veterinary authorities upon identification of the infected zone and the quarantine zone, according to the order.
“Zone classification status will be reviewed regularly depending on the epidemiological changes of the disease,” the order added.
A matter of zones
The implementation of a nationwide zoning plan is seen by the government as a way to not to disrupt trade among provinces, particularly among ASF-free areas. This is to address the series of bans imposed by provincial governments on the trade and entry of hogs, and pork-related products within their jurisdictions.
Under the zoning plan, provinces and regions would be classified based on their ASF status, which entail corresponding guidelines on the extent that they can transport and sale hogs, pork and pork products.
The country’s provinces, or regions, would be classified under two general zones: containment zone and free zones.
The containment zone is further categorized into four zones depending on the area’s ASF status: red (infected zone), yellow (surveillance zone), pink (buffer zone), and light green (protected zone).
The zoning plan would also allow government to focus efforts to limit the spread of the disease as it allows a progressive control in the affected areas and reducing risks in free areas.
Yield to law
Despite the issuance of the zoning plan, LGUs were adamant to comply with it, with most of the local executives retaining their pork bans and citing the need to protect their respective hog industries from the economically-disrupting disease.
This forced the DA in December to request Malacañang to issue an executive order (EO) compelling LGUs to observe the national zoning plan.
On February 5, Duterte signed Administrative Order (AO) 22, which mandated LGUs to comply with the DA’s AC 12 or national zoning plan for ASF.
Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya warned LGUs that noncompliance with the zoning plan, which he said are in line with the law, would be deemed illegal.
“If there are any LGUs which will not comply, they could be cited for violation of law. When you have someone cited for violation of law, [that is considered] grave misconduct that could lead to suspension, or removal from office,” Malaya told the BusinessMirror in an ambush interview in Malacañang.
Morales said the DA is now arranging regional stakeholders’ forum with LGUs so that everyone would have a unified appreciation and interpretation of the zoning plan.
“If everything is followed according to our plan, and we will have a smooth implementation of the zoning plan, we can [eradicate ASF] faster than 5 years,” he said.
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