DA monitoring other areas to prevent spread of African swine fever

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Wednesday it is monitoring other areas where pigs from farms that recorded deaths of hogs due to the African Swine Fever might have been transported.

“The problem is that most of the pigs that were transported, say to Bulacan, are the ones that have been spreading to other areas. So we are now mapping out where these pigs have been redistributed or transported again from Guiguinto, Bulacan,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.

“That’s where we are now monitoring whether there will be abnormal deaths of pigs in those areas,” he said.

Dar declined to disclose which areas are being monitored but said these are nearby Guiguinto town in Bulacan and Rizal province where the deaths are recorded.

On Monday, the agriculture department revealed that tests from the United Kingdom showed that 14 of 20 blood samples from backyard piggeries in the two areas tested positive for the disease.

READ: DA: African swine fever in PH; pork safe

Dar said a total of 7,416 pigs, both those affected and not affected by the African Swine Fever, within the one-kilometer radius of these farms have been culled.

He also said an initial P82 million was released by the Department of Budget Management to be used by the DA for providing cash assistance to affected farmers and for replacing culled pigs.

At present, he said the disease had only affected backyard piggeries and that the DA had not received reports of commercial hog raisers whose businesses have been affected by the African Swine Fever. 

The DA also assured the public that there was no epidemic of the disease and that locally-sold pork products are safe to eat. /je

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