INQUIRER FILES
The municipal council of Lobo in Batangas province declared the town under a state of calamity due to the spread of African swine fever (ASF) and its impact on the local hog industry.
A resolution passed by the council on Aug. 6 showed that at least 16 out of 26 barangays had recorded cases of swine fever, with total animal deaths pegged at 8,818 as of July 31.
The outbreak “has immensely affected the livelihood of thousands of hog growers or raisers whose daily income relies on the hog-raising and meat-selling market,” the resolution read, with losses reaching P103,338,000.
The declaration will enable the local government to use its calamity funds to extend assistance to local hog raisers. There is no vaccine yet for the highly contagious swine disease, according to the National Meat Inspection Service.
READ: Persistent pig pandemic
A pig infected with ASF usually dies in two to 10 days and the animal mortality rate goes as high as 100 percent, the Bureau of Animal Industry said. —DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.