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The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced on January 15 that blood samples taken from hogs in Abuyog, Leyte have tested positive for African swine fever (ASF).
In a press statement, DA 8 (Eastern Visayas) head Angel Enriquez said the region's first case was detected in backyard farms in the villages of Can-aporong and Bunga where unusual swine mortality was reported late last year.
"It was agreed during our coordination meeting with the local government unit (LGU) to immediately implement control measures, such as depopulation and proper disposal of the affected hogs, inventory of hogs in the identified areas, enforcement of strict border control, and disease surveillance and samplings, including nearby villages," she said.
Veterinary quarantine checkpoints manned by personnel of the BAI, Leyte’s provincial agriculture and veterinary offices, the Philippine National Police, and the LGU have been set up in the town's three highway borders, Enriquez added.
Abuyog Mayor Lemuel Gin Traya said as part of their containment measures, no hogs would be allowed entry and exit until February 14. He added that all hogs “within the 500-meter radius from an infected swine as a point of reference, will be culled." At least 519 hogs were culled in Abuyog, Leyte within the 500-meter radius of the first affected areas.
New cases have since been found in Mag-aso and Luneta villages in La Paz; and Comatin, Caranhug and Abuyogay in Javier village in Leyte.
The Abuyog local government has already banned the entry of all vehicles carrying pigs and pork meat, including those Manila-bound trucks transporting live hogs from Mindanao. The alternative route is the Baybay-Albuera-Ormoc Road, but the Ormoc City government issued on Saturday a directive to close its land borders to the entry of pigs and pork products from Mindanao.
As per available data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, 70 to 80 percent of the region's hog supply comes from Mindanao. Only 20 to 30 percent are locally-produced.
January 19, 2021/ Philippine News Agency/ Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/
