Albay town slaughterhouse closed for 3 days vs ASF

LEGAZPI CITY—The provincial government of Albay has ordered a slaughter house in the town of Daraga, Albay closed for three days as a precautionary measure against African swine fever (ASF).

Pancho Mella, officer-in-charge of the Provincial Veterinary Services (PVS), said the PVS gave the order after learning that four pigs from the town of Bombon, Camarines Sur province had been delivered to a private pen near the slaughterhouse last week.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) had confirmed that 23 dead pigs were infected with ASF in Bombon town last Feb. 20.

Mella said the four pigs were butchered immediately on Monday (Feb. 24), while organ samples were collected and sent to the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory of the Bureau of Animal Industry.

The four pigs bore no ASF signs after tests made on their organs and based on the “quality of the meat,” said Mella. Lab tests were done only as a “precautionary measure,” he said.

He said there was another pig with a disease, which was butchered in the area that was supposed to be checked first by the veterinary officials.

“There were lapses in the operation protocol” in the Daraga slaughterhouse, said Mella. “They need to thoroughly clean and disinfect the area for three days as a precautionary measure,” he said.

Animal quarantine checkpoints were set up in the towns of Polangui, Libon, Tiwi and Daraga in Albay to prevent entry of swine and other meat products from ASF-affected areas.

Edited by TSB