Pig’s death not due to ASF, says Batangas agri office

SAN PEDRO CITY –– The agriculture office of Sto. Tomas, Batangas maintained that the city, as well as the rest of the province, remained free of African Swine Fever (ASF) after a dead pig tested negative to the swine virus.

But even so, city agriculturist Ofelia Malabanan, on Thursday, said they followed a strict protocol in disposing the animal carcass and spraying disinfectants on the farm in Barangay San Agustin where the pig had come from.

“It was due to (a) respiratory (illness),” Malabanan said of the pig’s condition before it died.

“Cough and fever (among pigs) are rampant given the current weather which could last for three to four more months,” she said.

On Thursday, the city agriculture office gave talks and training to backyard farmers on the ASF, which had fatally infected swine herds in Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, and Quezon City.

The Department of Agriculture said about 12,000 head of swine had tested positive to ASF since August.

Batangas province, the second top supplier of pork and pork products nationally, was very cautious about keeping its backyard farms safe from ASF.

It banned entry of pork products from affected areas and imposed stricter quarantine procedures on live and animal products./lzb