African swine fever found in pig in Negros Occidental village

A pig that died due to a disease is buried in Bago City, Negros Occidental. The city remains free from African swine fever. (Photo courtesy of the Bago City Veterinary Office)

BACOLOD CITY — The African swine fever (ASF) has entered a town in Negros Occidental.

The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has confirmed that a blood sample from a pig in Barangay Mabini in Pulupandan town tested positive for ASF, according to Department of Agriculture Regional Director Jose Albert Barrogo on Wednesday, May 31.

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, in an interview, said the provincial government had not received an official copy of the report, but had implemented security measures in accordance with BAI protocols.

“We have to be very careful. Let us not rush and declare the province as ASF-infected because this is just in (Pulupandan). There were four samples taken, and only one came out positive,” he said.

“We will isolate that area where one pig was found ASF positive within a 500=meter radius,” he said.

Lacson said they would observe the case for 15 days, and if there is no other ASF case in the province, then they could say that the reported ASF case in Pulupandan town was isolated.

“The provincial government has already been implementing protocols to address the worst-case scenario,” he said.

The Provincial Veterinary Office reported on Tuesday that swine deaths due to hog cholera and other diseases in Pulupandan reached 526. So far, the BAI confirmed only one ASF death in the municipality.

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