DA: Stringent measures needed to plug African swine fever in La Union

INQUIRER FILES

MALASIQUI, Pangasinan — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is urging strict compliance with bio-security measures after 17 of the 36 villages in Balaoan town in La Union province have confirmed cases of African swine fever (ASF).

Dr. Alfiero Banaag, DA-Ilocos regulatory division chief and ASF focal person, in a phone interview, said the virus has affected the livelihood of 132 hog raisers and 704 swine heads have been culled since Aug. 14.

“The affected areas have been locked down, where entry and exit of swine or pork products have been totally banned. But there is still the need to strictly implement the bio-security measures,” he said.

He admitted that some hog raisers did not want to voluntarily surrender their swine for culling claiming that these were healthy.

“I hope they would understand that despite them claiming that their pens are clean and their pigs are healthy, the virus has already spread, so we can never really be certain,” he said in Filipino.

He said strict monitoring in areas with backyard piggeries should be implemented to ensure no infected swine are moved to other areas.

An ASF Task Force has been formed, and with village officials, authorities have set up temporary animal quarantine checkpoints at every entry and exit point, under Executive Order No. 2024-08-067 issued on Aug. 1.

The first ASF-confirmed positive case in the town was recorded in Barangay Sablut on July 19.

Banaag said the affected backyard hog raisers from Balaoan would be compensated with P5,000 per head of culled swine, with a maximum of 20 heads per raiser.

Meanwhile,  Banaag said the ASF-positive cases in two villages in San Fernando City, with two affected hog raisers and 41 culled swine, as well as those in five villages of Luna town, with 16 affected hog raisers and 164 culled pigs, are now under control.

The hog raisers will also be compensated depending on the pigs they voluntarily surrendered for culling.

Banaag also appealed to the residents to buy pork products only from legitimate and reliable sources such as the public market or groceries to be sure that these are not ASF-infected.

Banaag said there were no reported positive cases in the other provinces in Ilocos Region. (PNA)