MANILA, Philippines — Cases of African swine fever (ASF) in the country have been decreasing this month, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) announced Monday.
During the joint hearing of the House committees on agriculture and food and local government, BAI Director Ronnie Domingo said ASF cases in November decreased after its peak was recorded in October.
This could be attributed to the increased awareness of the public as well as local government units, he added.
“Naging mulat ‘yung maraming Pilipino, mga nag-aalaga pati na ‘yung mga LGUs. Nagsimula na sila maglagay ng kanilang mga kanya-kanyang control measures,” Domingo said.
(Filipinos, hog caretakers and LGUs alike, became aware of the spread of ASF. So they started to implement their own control measures.)
“Nakatulong ‘yan kaya makikita niyo, bumaba na yung ating kaso ng ASF,” he added.
(That helped in decreasing the cases of ASF in the country.)
The BAI official said ASF cases are seen to further decrease once the country enters into the dry season because the virus does not thrive well during that period.
“Takot po sa dry season ‘yung ASF so inaasahan natin na katulong natin ‘yung climate para sa pagsugpo ng sakit na ito,” he said.
(The virus is afraid of the dry season so we’re hoping that the climate will help stifle the spread of the disease.)
As of November 18, data from BAI revealed that ASF cases have been recorded in seven provinces, including Metro Manila, 50 municipalities, and 461 barangays in the country.
The bulk of affected barangays were located at Region III, which is at 389. Domingo said an incident command center has been put up in Pampanga to prevent the disease from spreading in the region.
Meanwhile, a total of 52,850 hogs have been culled as of Nov. 4 to prevent the disease’s spread. Domingo said the government killed and disposed of an average of 20,000 hogs per month since the outbreak of ASF in the country.
He added that this is lower compared to the number of culled pigs in neighboring countries affected by the diseases.
In China, an average of 97,000 hogs have been culled per month; in South Korea, 145,000 per month; and in Vietnam, 616,000 per month.
“[This is] another inidicator na tayo naman ay nakakatugon sa challenge na ito, kung ikukumpara sa ibang bansa,” he added.
(This is another indicator that the Philippine government is able to address the ASF virus in the country as compared to other countries.)